Meeting Grojband
by corneyforever
Summary: Jackie Matthews wished for only one thing for her birthday. A chance to rock out with her all-time favorite band: Grojband! And one day, she is surprised to find that her wish has become reality when she finds the band in her garage! She now enjoys having adventures with her rockin' best friends.
1. The Birthday Wish

**Hey guys! So I've decided to take a little break with The Fairy Grojparents because I've been working on something new for a while. I feel as if my love of Grojband has grown since I last watched it and I really hope that we get another season, possibly more! Anyway, this story will be a bit different from my other one. Mostly because I have made myself a character in it and the setting is almost similar to where I live. You know what? The description explains things pretty well. But keep in mind the main girl in this fanfic is not me per say. She's just a representation of myself so therefore, her name, age, and family lifestyle is not relative to myself in real life. I don't even have an older sister.**

**Also, this fanfic will only feature the four members of Grojband so Trina, Mina, and all of the other characters will not be in it. However, there will be characters that represent them as the story progresses so be on the look out! :)**

**As usual, I do not own Grojband or any characters that are present or parodied in this story (except me).**

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**Chapter 1**

**The Birthday Wish**

Jackie Matthews laid on the edge of her bed looking up at the ceiling. She had finally learned that there were 167 ceiling tiles in her room. At least not counting the triangular ones in the corners. The girl sighed, twisting her brown hair. She looked at all the posters on her wall each one containing a cartoon character. But they weren't just any cartoon characters. Each character on the wall was a member of Jackie's new all-time favorite rock-and-roll group: Grojband. She loved everything about it: the music, the band members…there was hardly anything she didn't like. She loved it so much, that she made it the theme for her 14th birthday party which her and her family had celebrated that day.

Of course, it wasn't really a big celebration. It was just her, her parents and her older sister sitting at the dining room table and giving her gifts. Jackie had received a Grojband calendar from her mom, a Grojband DVD set from her dad, and a book of real rock-and-roll musicians from her sarcastic older sister, Tracy. When Jackie received the book, Tracy told her that this way she could learn what real music is and the book could also teach her how to "stop being a loser for appreciating lame and fake bands". Unlike Jackie, Tracy hated Grojband and everything having to do with it. It might have been because Jackie liked it because Tracy hated everything Jackie liked. In fact, she pretty much hated Jackie. But Tracy tended to hate many things for many reasons.

When Jackie went up to her room that night, she threw her sister's "gift" into the trash and sat on her bed looking at the other gifts. The calendar was pretty cool and she had wanted the DVD set for a while. But as the teenager stared at her birthday presents, she realized that she didn't want them. Jackie had only wished for one thing for her birthday. And that was to get a chance to meet her favorite band and rock out with them. That was all she ever really wanted. But alas, she knew that it wouldn't happen because Grojband was just a cartoon band. If she ever did meet them, she would wake up and find out it was just a dream. Because that's all it would ever be. Just a dream.

Just then, Jackie's cynical older sister burst into her room.

"Hey parasite!" Tracy said rudely. "Where are my scissors?"

Tracy spotted her pink pair of scissors on Jackie's nightstand. Jackie handed them to her sister.

"Sorry, I needed them to finish my art project."

Tracy snatched the scissors out of Jackie's hands.

"Next time use your own! Now I have to sterilize them because you just used them!"

Tracy looked around the room at all the posters of Grojband.

"Ugh, when are you going to take these stupid things down? Where's that book of real rock bands that I got you?"

Jackie pointed to the trash can.

"In there where all your past birthday presents have gone."

Tracy scoffed.

"You are so pathetic! Obsessing over a lame band that isn't even real? Disgusting!"

Jackie stood up and faced her nasty older sibling.

"Grojband is not lame!"

"Uh, yeah it is!" Tracy pointed to a poster that had all of the band members on it. Her finger was aimed at the band's lead singer.

"What kind of kid dyes his own hair blue just to look cool? A dumb one!"

"Corey's hair is naturally blue!" Jackie crossed her arms. "And you're just jealous!"

Tracy pointed to the bass player.

"And this dude is just plain ugly! He wears makeup!"

"Laney is a girl!" Jackie told her. "So treat her with respect!"

"Yeah right." Tracy smiled wickedly this time pointing to the band's keyboardist. "Like I should listen to someone who loves a band with a four-eyed nerd!"

"Kin is cool to me!" Jackie shouted.

"And whatever is cool to you is lame to everyone else."

She looked at the drummer last.

"Speaking of lame, this thing takes the prize for being the dumbest and grossest of them all!"

"Kon is not gross! And how dare you call him a thing!"

"Sorry, I should be more specific. How about giant grease ball?"

"That's it!" Jackie pointed toward her door. "Get out of my room Tracy!"

"Fine!" Tracy yelled. "I can't stand being in a room full of dorks anyway!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Next time you come in my room I'll have posters of Rick Salary on the wall! Will that make you happy?"

Rick Salary was the most popular boy in Jackie and Tracy's school. Almost all of the girls were madly in love with him including Tracy.

"Hey!" Tracy scolded. "You leave hunky Rick Salary out of this!"

"Just leave me alone!" Jackie slumped down on her bed.

"Whatever!" Tracy said headed for the door.

"Have fun with Garbojband! That's what they should be called! Because they stink! BAM!"

The evil teenager slammed the door at her last word leaving Jackie by herself. Jackie grumbled angrily to herself. She really, really, REALLY hated her sister. She looked up at all the posters on her wall and recalled all of the things that Tracy had said.

"_Obsessing over a lame band that isn't even real?_"

"_…being in a room full of dorks anyway!_"

"_Have fun with Garbojband! That's what they should be called! Because they stink!_"

The brown-haired girl shook her head clearing her mind of all of those nasty comments. She glanced at the poster with all of the band members.

"_It's not true._" Jackie thought to herself. "_You're not lame. You're the coolest band ever. If you guys were real, you could totally prove Tracy wrong._"

But sadly, they weren't real so Jackie couldn't prove anything. Some birthday this turned out to be.

The girl looked down next to her and saw the DVD collection her dad had given her. She picked up the box and walked downstairs where the TV was. Then she put in one of the disks and watched a few episodes before she went to bed.

When Jackie got under the covers, she looked out the window to her room. A star was glistening in the beautiful night sky. Jackie figured it was a sign for her to make a birthday wish. She closed her eyes, cupped her hands together and wished in her mind.

_I wish I could meet Grojband._

She opened her eyes and saw the star twinkling. As much as she wanted to believe her wish would come true, she knew it wouldn't. But if she was lucky, she could meet the band in her dreams. Jackie turned off the lamp on her night stand and fell asleep. As the teenager drifted off, the star in the sky kept glowing. Something magical was about to happen. Maybe even something musical.

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**OMG! So intense! Hope you guys enjoyed! Next chapter is the band's debut! I'll post the chapter tomorrow if you guys want it badly enough. ;)**


	2. Just a Dream?

**Ok, I officially can't wait anymore. Here is Chapter 2. Hope you like it!**

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**Chapter 2**

**Just a Dream?**

The next morning, Jackie woke up to the sound of loud music coming from downstairs. The teenaged girl sat up in her bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She didn't have any strange dreams last night. In fact, it felt like the whole night had dragged on and on with nothing but darkness. Jackie got up and leaned her ear against her bedroom door. Sure enough, she could hear music coming from downstairs.

_Did I leave the TV on last night? _she thought.

Jackie walked down the stairs and to the living room to switch off the TV. But to her surprise, it was already off. Jackie could still hear the music coming from somewhere so she listened carefully to find out where. As she walked down the halls the music got louder. Finally, Jackie came across the door to the garage which was the source of the loud music. Slowly and carefully, she opened the door and the music blasted onto her face. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she was shocked by what she saw. Standing in her garage were four figures rocking out on their instruments. But what was most surprising was that the figures looked exactly like the ones on Jackie's posters! The four of them immediately stopped playing when they saw Jackie at the door. One of them waved.

"How's it going?" the figure up front asked.

Suddenly, Jackie's vision got blurry and she started to feel dizzy. The next thing she knew, she fell to the floor and everything was dark.

A few minutes later, Jackie started to become conscious again. She could make out four heads standing over her.

"Is she okay?" a female voice asked.

"I'm not sure…" said the leader.

"Maybe she's taking a nap!" a deep, cheerful voice chimed in.

"She's pretty when she's asleep." added someone with a high-pitched and somewhat nerdy voice.

Jackie sat up and rubbed her aching head.

"Ugh, Mom? Dad?" she mumbled. "Man, I had the weirdest dream…see, I was…"

Just then, she looked up and saw the figures from before. The tall, fat one waved.

"Hi!"

Jackie shrieked and backed into the wall of the garage looking terrified.

"Whoa!" the one with blue hair started. "Chill out! We didn't mean to scare you!"

Jackie grabbed a hold of her heart.

"Oh my gosh…" she gasped. "Grojband…in my garage…this cannot be happening…"

The girl with red hair gave a small smile.

"Well, we're standing here in your garage right now. So, it's definitely happening."

"No…" Jackie stammered. "No, no, no, no! This cannot be real!"

She then gasped with realization.

"That's it! This isn't real! I must still be asleep and this is all a dream!" she stood up laughing. "Yeah, that's it! This is all just a crazy dream! Okay, well this has been fun but I'm going to wake myself up now! Bye!"

The girl pinched herself on her side and cried out in pain. But nothing happened. She was still in the same place.

"Hang on…"

She repeatedly slapped herself in the face. The members of the cartoon band exchanged worried looks. Jackie then started to bang her head on the wall.

"Come…on! Wake…up…already!"

After hitting her already aching head against the wall five times, the girl turned back around. The cartoon band was still standing in front of her.

"…This isn't a dream is it?" she asked.

"Nope!" the kid with blue hair said.

"In that case…" Jackie said catching her breath. "Do you mind if I say something?"

"Go ahead." the girl with red hair told her.

Jackie inhaled deeply and took a long pause. After a few seconds passed, she let out an excited scream.

"O…M…G!" she cried. "Grojband is in my garage! Grojband is in my garage! Grojband…is in my garage! Grojband is in…my garage! Grojbandisinmygarage!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the blue-haired boy exclaimed. "Time out! You know us?"

Jackie walked up to him full of excitement.

"Absolutely! I'm Jackie Matthews! And I am your biggest fan! This is just so amazing! I can't believe I'm talking to Corey Riffin!"

The boy known as Corey smiled.

"Oh, so you have heard of me?"

"Of course I have! You are the most awesome lead singer ever after all!"

Corey chuckled. "Yep! That's me all right! Awesome as they come! I'm the best!"

The only girl rolled her eyes.

"The best at blowing his own horn." she muttered to herself.

Jackie walked toward the short red-head.

"Wow! The real Laney Penn!" she cried. "It's such an honor to meet the only girl in the band!"

Laney smiled impressed.

"You actually know I'm a girl?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah!" Jackie claimed. "I don't know why people think that you're not a girl!"

"Wait, Laney is a girl?" the tall fat kid with black hair asked. "I totally never knew that!"

Jackie giggled.

"Well it's true! And you're Kon Kujira! The master of drumming and rhythm! Even without your drumsticks!"

"Oh yeah!" Kon exclaimed getting behind his drums. "Kon-go Bongos!"

The drummer started to play an amazing drum solo using only his hands. On the last beat, he accidentally slammed his fist inside one of the drums breaking it.

"Whoopsie…" he chuckled nervously.

Jackie giggled. She remembered that Kon's shenanigans always made her laugh. Then she looked toward the boy with glasses.

"And how could I forget Grojband's keyboardist, Kin Kujira? You're so adorable!"

Kin looked up at the brown-haired girl and blushed.

"W-w-who me?"

"Yeah! My sister always said that you were a four-eyed nerd, but I think you're really cool!"

"R-r-really?"

"Totally!" Jackie nodded. "You're the coolest scientist and the coolest keyboardist ever!"

The nerdy kid was really turning red now.

"You really think so?" he asked shyly.

"Mm-hm!"

"Wow…" Kin's eyes went wide as he looked up at Jackie smiling at him. His heart was beating fast and he had a huge smile on his face. He felt as if he had been struck by Cupid's arrow. When Jackie walked away, Kin placed the back of his right hand on his forehead as he started to lose his balance. He swooned falling on top of Laney.

"She's so…awesome…" he sighed. Laney glared at him.

Jackie walked back over to Corey.

"But I don't understand. Why are you guys here anyway?"

Corey shrugged.

"Who knows? We heard something about a wish when we were summoned here."

"Wish?" Jackie suddenly remembered. "Of course! My birthday wish! Last night I wished that I could meet you guys and now it's really happening! It's always been my dream to see you guys rock out in front of me!"

Corey jumped onto an old couch that had been in Jackie's garage for a while.

"Duh! It's everyone's dream to get a chance to see us perform!" the blue-haired singer strummed on his guitar. "And just you wait Jackie! Tonight, you're gonna get the concert of a lifetime! Grojband is going to rock your entire town!"

Laney got out from under a love-struck Kin to face the band leader.

"Uh, Core? How exactly are we going to rock the entire town? We don't even have lyrics!"

"No problem!" Corey smiled. "We'll just get the lyrics from Trina!"

"Yeah…how exactly do we do that when Trina's not even here?"

Corey stood blank for a few seconds as he came upon a realization.

"Wait…Trina didn't come with us when we came here?"

"Nope!" Kon answered.

"Uh-uh!" Laney shook her head.

"She's perfect…" Kin said with hearts in his eyes.

Laney slapped Kin in the face.

"Ow! I mean…uh…no…"

Corey gasped.

"No Trina means no lyrics! And no lyrics means…Grojband can't go on!"

The teen got on his knees.

"NOOOOOO!"

Corey suddenly stopped screaming when a light bulb appeared over his head.

"Wait a second! It's not the end of the world!" he stood up. "We'll just find someone else to write the lyrics for us!"

"And what are the chances of us finding a teenager with a diary and rage issues?" Laney asked.

"Hey shrimp!" a mean voice boomed from another room.

Just then, Tracy burst through the door carrying her diary in her left hand.

"Out of the garage!" she shouted. "Macy's coming over today! We're having a session on how much hunky Rick Salary and I are meant to be together and I don't need you ruining everything with your existence!"

The four cartoons rushed to Jackie's defense.

"Hey Jacks! Who's this ugly old witch?" Corey asked.

Tracy had a look of surprise on her face.

"Just my sister." Jackie responded going toward Tracy.

"How about that Tracy? They're real! And they're going to rock the entire town tonight to prove how cool they really are! That means everyone, even you will think they're the awesomest band ever!"

Tracy stared at the band who gave her their toughest expressions. After a few seconds of silence passed, Tracy burst into laughing.

"Are you kidding me?" she chortled. "You really expect me to think that they're cool?!"

She walked toward the band laughing some more.

"Ooh, I'm so impressed!" she took Corey's microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to present the lamest band on earth!"

The mean girl pulled down Corey's beanie purposely covering his eyes.

"Starring beanie boy…"

She smeared the makeup on Laney.

"Makeup dude…"

She snatched Kin's glasses and shoved him.

"Klutzy nerd…"

She poked Kon in the stomach.

"And the big ball of lard!"

The teenager laughed hysterically.

"Seriously? You think just because they're real and junk, I'll actually start to respect them? Puh-lease! I hardly have any respect for you!"

Tracy grabbed her little sister by her shirt collar.

"Now you and your little circus freaks had better be gone by the time I come back, or I'll show you how a band really gets broken up!"

Tracy dropped Jackie on the ground and tossed Kin's glasses behind her back. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone dialing her best friend.

"Macy! Where are you? I don't care if you're not allowed to run red lights! I want you over here NOW!"

Jackie caught Kin's glasses before they hit the ground. Quickly, she helped the keyboardist to stand and gave him his glasses back.

"Really sorry about Tracy. I don't know how anyone can live with her."

Kin put his glasses back on and smiled when he could see Jackie's pretty face again.

"Oh, it's fine." Kin blushed. "I just don't see how you and her are related. I mean…you're so kind, and sweet, and beautiful, and she's well…"

"Awful! Nasty! Devilish! An overall stuck-up, bossy, rotten, no-good, vomit-inducing, makeup-smearing DEMON WOMAN!" Laney screamed. "In short, I think your sister is mean."

"That may be true Lanes." Corey said pulling up his beanie. "But she may be the answer to our problem!"

"Huh?" the rest of the band said simultaneously.

"Don't you get it? Tracy is obviously the Trina equivalent of this world!"

"That's right!" Jackie snapped her fingers. "Trina your older sister is just like Tracy! They're both mean and selfish!"

"Not only that, but Tracy has a diary!" Corey exclaimed. "I bet there's all sorts of good song lyrics in that thing! All we have to do is make her write in it, steal the diary from her, and rock out with awesome new words!"

"Wow!" Jackie went. "You really are the real Corey Riffin! Your ideas are still awesome!"

Corey held up his pointer finger and pinky finger and joined hands with the other band members.

"Operation: 'Get Jackie's older sister to write in her diary so we can steal the diary and get awesome new lyrics for our song' is a go!"

The rock band glanced at their new friend waiting for her to join them. Jackie smiled holding up her fingers and putting her fist with the others.

"YEAH!" all five shouted.

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**WOOHOO! Grojband forever! Stay tuned for another awesome chapter tomorrow! (if reviews happen quickly)**


	3. Tracy's Got an Evil Plan

**Yay! Finally done with this one! Hope you enjoy!**

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**Chapter 3**  
**Tracy's Got an Evil Plan**

"Today's session is…how much does Rick Salary love me?" Tracy pointed a baton toward the whiteboard in the garage which had a picture of Rick Salary on it. Her best friend, Macy, was sitting in a chair across from her.

"Uh…he loves you a whole lot Tracy! Totally!"

Tracy glared at the girl in glasses.

"I meant on a scale of 1 to 10."

Jackie watched through the window of the garage door. The band was right next to her listening in so they could find out what makes Tracy tick.

"I can't believe Tracy took the whole garage just to talk about her boy problems." Jackie said grumpily.

"Yeah, but look at it this way!" Corey pointed out. "Now we can finally find proof that Tracy is our new Trina!"

"Wasn't her kicking us out of the garage and insulting the band proof enough?" Laney asked.

Corey shushed her and put a finger to her lips which caused Laney to blush.

"There's more to Trina besides an overall bad attitude Laney."

"10 for sure!" Macy exclaimed.

Tracy slapped Macy's hand.

"Ow!"

"No one likes a flatterer Macy!" Tracy scolded. "Try again!"

"Sorry. 8.6? Ow!" she was slapped again.

"No one likes to be insulted either!"

"Bad attitude…harsh on best friend…obsessed with the hottest guy in school…" Laney listed on her fingers. "Looks like a Trina equivalent to me."

"Perfect!" Corey said. "So now all we have to do is do something to her that will make her mad and she'll diary us up some lyrics just like Trina!"

As Jackie watched her sister boss around her best friend, she got the feeling that she was being watched too. Slowly, she looked down to her right where Kin was standing. He was smiling big and tiny hearts were coming out of him.

"Uh, are you okay Kin?" Jackie was concerned and confused at the same time.

"Who me?" Kin giggled. "I'm just dandy! Perfect! Couldn't be better! In fact, I think it's cool that we're spying on your sister together."

Kin grabbed a hold of Jackie's waist and hugged it.

"You know…you and me…next to each other…standing really close…"

"Uh-huh." Jackie said not really paying attention.

"Jacks!" Corey called out. "You gotta listen to what they're saying now!"

"What?!" Jackie immediately ran to where Corey and Laney were easily slipping out of Kin's grip. When Kin realized that Jackie was gone and that he was hugging nothing but air, he fell toward the ground.

"What's going on guys?" Jackie asked Corey and Laney.

Laney motioned Jackie to look through the window.

"Look!"

Jackie peeked through the glass and saw Tracy drawing something else on the whiteboard. From the window, it looked like a representation of herself and the band.

"Now listen up Macy!" Tracy ordered. "You see these drawings right here? They represent my grody sister and her even grodier new friends."

"But I thought we were going to talk about Rick Salary?"

Tracy gave her friend an angry glare.

"Oh! Is that so?" She got up into Macy's face. "Sure, we can talk about Rick. And we can talk about how you're planning on stealing him from me!"

Macy shook with fear.

"B-B-But I'm not trying to steal Rick from you..."

"LIAR!"

Macy shrieked and covered her head.

"Let this be clear to you Macy. Rick can only have one girl in his life. And that girl is going to be me! GOT IT?!"

Macy looked up at Tracy.

"G-Got it..." She whimpered. Tracy walked back over to the board.

"Now, as I was saying...these drawings are my sister and her lame friends."

Macy took a closer look at the drawings.

"Hey, isn't that Grojband? The fake band that your sister is really into?"

"It totes is!" Tracy nodded. "Well guess what? They're real now! And they're taking over my garage! So you and I are going to make them unreal!"

Macy sat still looking very perplexed. But she decided to go along with it.

"Uh...sure Tracy. But uh...how do we get rid of them?"

"Totally simple! They're planning on playing their unlistenable songs tonight in front of the whole town. Once they get on stage, we'll fire our cannon, and BLAM! Fromojband will be no more! I'll be rid of those losers and Jackie will cry for the rest of her life! Bonus!"

Macy smiled and nodded.

"Sounds great Tracy! Um, except..."

"What?!"

"Where do we get a cannon?"

After Macy asked this question, Tracy had immediately pulled out a Do-It-Yourself-Cannon kit.

"We'll have to make one. And by 'we', I so mean you."

Tracy shoved the kit into Macy's hands.

"START BUILDING!"

Macy zipped into the corner of the garage and got to work. Tracy smiled to herself.

"Those stupid rock star wannabes won't stand a chance against my power! Once they're gone forever, my sister's life will be ruined!"

The teenager let out a maniacal laugh.

Jackie and the band, meanwhile, had been watching the two girls the whole time.

"This does not look good..." Corey said.

"Not good?!" Laney shouted. "She's gonna try to blow us up! Trust me, it's way worse than not good!"

Laney looked at Jackie who was smiling.

"Why are you smiling?! This is no laughing matter!"

"No, listen! I think I know how to make sure you guys don't get blown up and get awesome lyrics from Tracy!"

"How?" Corey asks.

"First, we'll invite everyone in town to come and see you guys. Then, when Tracy gets ready to fire her little cannon, you guys use your rock powers to shatter it into a million pieces! The crowd will go wild, and when Tracy sees how much people love you, she'll totally write in her diary just like Corey's sister!"

"Wow! Now I know you're a true fan!" Corey stated. "Your ideas are almost as great as mine!"

"But wait..." Laney began. "We don't have rock powers."

"You do in my heart." Jackie smiled.

"Man, I like this girl!" Kon exclaimed. Kin growled and got in his twin brother's face.

"BACK OFF! SHE'S MINE! DO YOU HEAR ME?! MIIIIINNNNE!"

The entire group looked at Kin. Kin blushed with embarrassment.

"Uh...what I mean is...she's my...favorite fan!" He chuckled. "Yeah...I mean you have to be if you come up with ideas like Corey does..."

"Aw, thanks Kin." Jackie poked Kin in the nose. "And you're my favorite keyboardist."

Kin swooned falling into Kon's arms.

"Okay you guys! Let's split up and spread the word! Grojband is rocking out tonight!" Jackie held up her pointer and pinky fingers and the others joined in. Then the five of them ran off in different directions.

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**May take me a while to type up the next chapter. Just be patient. In the meantime, hope you liked Kin crushing on Jackie.**


	4. It's Diary Time

**So it turns out that this chapter didn't take that long to write at all! Really excited to share this one! ****But before you read it, let me just make something clear. **

**Jackie does not know about Kin's crush on her and as of now she only thinks of him as a friend. You may think otherwise because Jackie does things that makes it look like she's flirting with Kin such as poking him on the nose and calling him her favorite keyboardist. However, the latter is meant to be a normal compliment that Kin takes to mean something more and the former is just Jackie doing what Corey does to Laney and neither Corey nor Jackie mean this in a romantic way. Needless to say, Jackie is not in love with Kin...yet.**

**Well, now that I got that explained, here's the next chapter. Enjoy.**

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**Chapter 4**

**It's Diary Time**

Macy had finally finished pushing the cannon Tracy forced her to make all the way to town square. She panted feeling exhausted. Being best friends with Tracy wasn't easy, but it was worth it to soak in some of Tracy's popularity. Tracy followed behind impatiently.

"Finally! I thought we'd never get here. Move faster next time Macy!"

Macy wiped some sweat off of her forehead as she faced Tracy.

"Are you sure that this will work Tracy?"

"Stop being so negative Macy! Of course it'll work! Once Mirojband is nothing but a pile of dust, Jackie's dreams will be the same!"

"I have been wondering Tracy..." Macy said. "Why do you hate your sister so much?"

"I so don't like to talk about it." Tracy told her. "But I'll remember it in my thoughts."

Tracy closed her eyes and recalled the time when she was two and her parents had brought her new sister home from the hospital. At first when Tracy saw her, wrapped up in a white blanket asleep, she was overjoyed. For this was back when Tracy was kind, loving, and adored. But a year later, things changed at the Matthews' residence. Tracy's parents had started to completely ignore Tracy. Their attention was all on their new baby. It wasn't long before they gave all of Tracy's toys to Jackie even though Tracy still enjoyed playing with them. Then one day, Tracy's heart changed and became bitter. She believed that she should be the one in the family who gets all the attention, not Jackie. Since that day, she vowed to do everything she could to make her little sister's life miserable.

Tracy slowly came back to reality finishing her flashback. She looked back toward Macy.

"Well don't just stand there! MOVE! They'll be back any minute!"

Macy obeyed Tracy and continued to push the cannon.

Later, a huge crowd of citizens was making its way toward town square. Jackie and the gang had successfully informed everyone of the concert going on that night and soon the whole area was filled. A stage had been perfectly set up in the middle of the square where the band was taking their positions.

"Whoa!" Corey exclaimed. "Look at all those adoring fans!"

"I guess this plan turned out way better than we expected." Laney said satisfied. "Except for the fact that we still need lyrics."

Corey put an arm around Laney, which caused her to smile big and have hearts come out of her.

"Relax fella!" Corey reassured her. "Tracy's bound to be around here somewhere! Like Jackie said, we just wait for her to fire her little cannon, destroy it with our awesome music, and the lyrics will come right to us!"

"But what if our music doesn't destroy the cannon?" Kon asked.

"Then we're pretty much dead." Corey declared. "But won't it be worth it to savor the fame we're getting in this new place?"

"No!" The other band members said simultaneously.

Jackie came on the stage to meet up with her friends.

"Now that is a huge crowd!" She exclaimed. "You guys think you can handle it?"

"Jacks, you clearly underestimate the power of rock!" Corey said.

Just then, the mayor of the town came up onto the stage and talked into the microphone.

"Good evening Tranquil Town! I, Mayor Swellow, am honored and at the same time, terribly confused to present a brand new group of musicians who are here to supply a brand new sound for our town! Give it up for...Grojband!"

The mayor stepped off the stage and Corey took the mic. He and the others started waving to the crowd. Jackie stood near the front of the stage giving them all a thumbs-up.

Suddenly, Tracy's voice came booming from the audience silencing everybody.

"Not so fast!" Tracy stepped up to where Jackie was with Macy pushing the cannon behind her.

"It's about time you losers showed up." She gave an evil smile. "Hope you all are ready for your final performance! Because after this lame concert is over, nobody is going to remember you! Just look at yourselves. Do you really think that any one of these people would like you? Ha! You're not even a real band! The only one dumb enough to get a kick out of you is my sister! And now guess what? I'm going to end your rock stardom tonight in front of the whole town!"

Tracy stepped in front of her cannon and prepared to light a match.

"Say goodnight Garbojband! Because your last concert is going out with a bang!"

Tracy lit the cannon and it fired right toward the stage. The crowd stood back looking terrified.

"Here goes nothing!" Corey said to himself.

Then he and the band played their music as hard as they could. The soundwaves blew the audience backward, including Jackie and Tracy. The cannonball that was heading toward the band had been blown back toward Tracy's cannon destroying it completely. After a few moments of silence, the crowd burst into applause and cheered loudly. But Jackie cheered the loudest of them all. She ran onstage to meet Corey.

"You did it! See? I knew you guys had the power!"

Tracy meanwhile, stood in shock at what was going on.

"What?!" She cried. "What is this? How are they still alive?"

She glanced down and gasped when she saw the broken cannon.

"How could this have happened?!" Tracy looked around at the screaming crowd. "No! This can't be happening! They actually like those dorks?!"

Suddenly, the sky became dark and cloudy. Lightning struck from above.

"I'm the popular one!" Tracy pointed to the band. "Not them! I'm the one they should be cheering for! No one else should be popular but MEEEEEEEE!"

Tracy then shot up into the sky with a blast of fire. Her face was red with anger and she was somehow floating in the air. Her diary and pen floated toward her. She grabbed on to both of them and started writing. When she wrote, flames appeared on the pages of the diary. The lights on stage started shooting fire. People in the audience were fleeing in terror. When Tracy was finished writing, she held up her pen which had a flame on it. Slowly, the flame burned out and Tracy's red face turned back to normal as she fell toward the ground. Macy prepared to catch her but ended up getting crushed by her instead. As the sky turned back to normal, Tracy's diary fell down to Earth and landed in Corey's hand.

"Whoa, who knew my sister had it in her?" Jackie wondered out loud.

Corey looked inside the diary.

"This stuff is perfect! Looks like we've found ourselves a new lyricist!"

The blue-haired kid stepped up to the mic.

"Hello Tranquil Town! Are you ready to rock?!"

The crowd screamed with excitement as the band started to perform a new song.

_Why don't they notice me?_

_I'm stuck inside a giant crowd_

_Can't be seen or heard by them_

_Not even if I scream real loud_

_I'm trying so hard to think like them_

_But their thoughts aren't very clear_

_It feels like I'm invisible_

_Can't they see me standing here?_

_I'm for real (I'm for real)_

_I'm for real (I'm for real)_

_If only they knew what it's like_

_If only they knew how I feel_

_Why can't they see that_

_I'm for real_

_I'm for real!_

Corey strummed the final chord on his guitar and the crowd went wild. Jackie came back onstage and hugged Corey.

"That was amazing!" She said. "They love you guys!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Corey shrugged.

They both looked out at the crowd which was chanting the band's name over and over again. The other band members walked upstage to soak in all the excitement. Meanwhile, Tracy stood up from a crushed Macy.

"Ugh, c'mon Macy! Let's get out of here. There's always tomorrow."

Macy stood holding her head and followed Tracy out of the crowd.

Later, all of the people had cleared out and the band was packing up their instruments.

"Man, did you see the way we rocked in front of everyone in town? We were awesome!"

Jackie giggled. "Yes Kon, I know. I was there. And you guys were awesome tonight."

"Darn right we were!" Corey said putting his guitar back in his case. Then he looked behind him and saw Jackie sitting down looking sad.

"Hey, why the long face Jacks?" He went up to her and leaned his arm on her shoulder. "You got to see your favorite band perform onstage! What's the problem?"

Jackie shrugged.

"Well, it's just that usually when you guys play somewhere, you never play there again. So now I guess there's nothing left for you here and you'll be heading back to your own world."

"Are you kidding?" Corey exclaimed. "Why would we wanna go back? We've only just started to rock here!"

Jackie looked up at the guitarist. "What?"

"Look, this place needs a band. A band that has the power and potential to lift up its spirits. What better band to do that than us? Which is the main reason why Grojband is going to stick around Tranquil Town and rock as many gigs as we can find!"

Laney spoke up.

"Another reason is because we have no clue how to get back to our own world."

"Yeah...that too." Corey looked toward Jackie. "But the thing is, we can't find all those gigs alone. We need someone with a knack for organizing and planning out where we'll perform. Someone who cares about the band so much that she'll find us gigs on the spot. Someone who's determined, creative, and clever. Well, guess what Jacks? That someone is you."

Jackie beamed. "Really?"

"What do you say? Would you like to be Grojband's very own manager?"

"Me? Really?" Jackie paused. "But wait, I thought Laney was your manager?"

Laney smiled.

"Listen kid, what you did today was incredible. Getting an entire crowd to come to town square just to listen to us is something that not even I could do. Trust me, you deserve it. Besides, it'll be nice to have a girl to converse with for a change."

"So Jackie?" Corey continued. "Are you up for it?"

Jackie looked at the band members as they anticipated her answer. Kin had his fingers crossed.

"Please...please...please..." He muttered under his breath.

Jackie smiled. How could she possibly say no to her favorite band?

"I'll do it!"

The four of them cheered. Kin was ecstatic.

"Yes! Yes! Oh thank you! Thank you!" He grabbed a hold of Jackie and hearts came out of him. "I knew we were meant to be together forever!"

He then stopped when he realized he had said his thoughts out loud.

"Uh...I mean you know, we as in all of us. I didn't mean together as in you and me." He gave a nervous laugh and blushed.

"Nice save dude." Kon whispered.

"By the way Jacks..." Corey started. "You will let us use Tracy's diary for lyrics won't you? Mine aren't getting any better..."

"No problem." Jackie said. "In fact, we'd better keep an eye out for her. I have a feeling she'll still be trying to wreck you guys' gigs. But, we can stop her. As long as we stick together!"

The five of them joined hands and chanted.

"GROJBAND FOREVER!"

* * *

**The end. But wait, it's not the end. It's only the end of the beginning. This is the part where you guys come in. The majority of the rest of this fanfic will be scenarios based on Grojband episodes that include Jackie. And since this is a completely different universe, the band will not have been in these situations before. So let me know which Grojband episode you would like to see in this fic and I'll get it up as soon as possible. You may also suggest some situations of your own to put the band in. But first, let me explain some rules: 1) Please be specific when you suggest things. You can understand why I can't work with 'more corney' or something like that. 2) I will accept scenarios for Corney and Jackin but there are a few restrictions to these. The scenarios can not have any kissing or confessions of feelings. This is because the whole point of this fanfic is for it to follow the events of the band so Corey and Jackie must remain oblivious to the fact that they each have someone crushing on them and Laney and Kin must keep their crushes secret from them. They will say their feelings eventually and maybe Corey and Jackie will show signs of liking them back. In the meantime, tell me which episode of Grojband you want to see in this fic.**


	5. Mime and Mime Again

**Hey everybody! I'm back! The first episode is all set and ready to be read!**

**This episode was requested via private message by Missymysto and I have to say that this is my favorite episode of all time. The story is original and the song they did was just as amazing. So here it is in story form with my own original character. **

**BTW, the titles of the chapters will be different from the episode names because I want to add variety to this fanfic.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Mime and Mime Again**

"I'm Destiny Providence." the woman on the news said. "And this just in!"

The reporter and her partner, Buster Newsworthy, were currently standing in Tranquil Town's park where a huge riot was going on. An angry crowd was surrounding a statue of a man while carrying torches and pitch forks.

"Statue Steve is a fraud!" Destiny reported. "The man we thought was a performer pretending to be a statue is a real statue!"

Buster continued.

"In response to this shocking news, the entire town has chosen to riot in a blind rage!"

At that moment the mob was throwing a rope toward the head of the statue and pulling it to the ground.

"Rightly so says this reporter. Rightly sooo!" As the newscaster finished, a rope had wrapped around his head and pulled him to the ground.

Jackie and her band were watching the breaking news story on the TV in Jackie's garage.

"I thought that statue was a real guy!" Kon folded his arms looking angry. "What a lying jerk!"

"Maybe he isn't real." Corey decided. "But his prime piece of real estate sure is!"

"What do you mean Corey?" Jackie asked confused.

"Statue Steve had the best outdoor performance spot in town! And now that spot is up for grabs!" Corey stood up pointing at the TV screen.

Jackie smiled now understanding.

"Yeah...if you guys rocked out in a spot where everyone can see and hear you, you'd be huge!"

"Exactly Jacks! The people of Tranquil Town will go crazy for new street performers!"

As Corey talked, the angry mob on TV continued to smash the statue of the man they once believed was real. Corey then shut off the TV and his eyes sparkled.

"That could be us!" He squealed.

"Oh boy. I hope so." Laney said sarcastically.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Jackie and the band arrived at the park shortly afterwards where Statue Steve was being dragged away. Jackie was holding her very own manager clipboard, checking off items on a list as the others unpacked their instruments. Corey stood looking as happy as can be.

"Playing outside all day for a hatful of change. Cheering folks up on their way to that job they hate. Yep! It's the busker's life for us!"

"You said it Core!" Jackie checked off the last item on her list. "Okay! You guys are good to go!"

"Not quite Jackie." Laney said. "We still need a song to busk with"

Corey put an arm around Laney and a heart appeared above her.

"Obviously." Corey smiled. "But that won't be a problem today, right Jacks?"

Jackie nodded gesturing to the other side of the park where her sister was.

"Nope! See Laney? Tracy's already here getting her portrait painted by hunky Rick Salary! Guess she had five bucks to burn."

Tracy was sitting on a rock posing when she looked over at Jackie and glared.

"Scuzzy, Jackie Jarhead!" She yelled. "Rick's like, a real artiste 'kay? He doesn't charge money!"

Rick was across from Tracy wearing a beret and painting on a canvas.

"Rick digs art for art's sake." He said. "And he really needs his model to stay still."

"Model?!" Tracy burst into a fit of girly giggles.

"The countdown to diary launch has begun!' Jackie concluded.

Suddenly, the group paused. They all felt a chill going up their spines.

"Anyone else feel the cold silent stare of impending doom?" Kin asked looking terrified.

The five friends looked behind them and screamed when they saw a pair of eyes glaring at them. But they stopped when they saw who the eyes belonged to.

"Phew. It's just a creepy mime." Kin sighed with relief.

But the mime looked angry. He started to wave his arms in the air and make motions with them.

"Uh, what's he saying?" Laney wondered.

Jackie shrugged. "No idea. I don't know sign language."

"He's probably trapped in a box or something." Corey suggested.

The mime got up in Corey's face. He pointed downward and then to himself. Then he scooted himself away from the spot the band was standing on.

"Weird." Jackie thought out loud. "I wonder what he wanted."

"You're standin' on it!" A gruff voice said.

Jackie looked ahead of her and saw someone she knew.

"Oh! Hey Sausage Billy!"

Billy was the owner of several businesses across Tranquil Town and the number of businesses he had kept growing. Every time Jackie saw him, he was doing something new. This time, he was a hot dog vendor.

"Them mimes been waitin' to take Statue Steve's busking spot there for nearly eight half decades!" Billy explained.

Kon reached out his hand to grab a hot dog but Billy slapped his hand away with a spatula.

"Now yous kids are standing on it, your knees won't be unbroke for long!"

Kon snuck behind the hot dog cart and was about to grab one when Billy hit him over the head.

"Mimes are rough out here."

Corey scoffed.

"There's plenty of park to go around." He said as Kon tried to make a grab for the hot dogs while hiding under his hat. But Corey moved away before he could even touch one. Jackie took Corey's place up front.

"Yeah Billy. Those mimes can share the place with my band." She told the vendor. "Besides, who's afraid of a harmless mime?"

Suddenly, they all heard a loud car horn and then the mime from before drove up in an invisible car with three other mimes. The first mime pulled up his sunglasses and moved his finger across his throat in a threatening way. Everyone in the band looked terrified except for Jackie and Corey who were both staring the mime down. But he and the other mimes just laughed silently and rode off in their pretend car.

"Careful Jackie!" Billy warned the band manager. "These mimes mime harder than any mimes I ever saw!"

"Aw, mime schmime!" Jackie said with a laugh.

"What she said!" Corey agreed. The others just glanced at each other worriedly.

Meanwhile, Tracy was still posing for Rick's painting of her.

"I totally can't wait to see how extra super beautiful I look through your super beautiful eyes!" Tracy squealed. "I bet it's like, so mega gorg, it'll be worth like a gorgillion bucks! And you'll be famous for drawing it and I'll be famous for being worth so much!"

Rick gave a disapproving look.

"Rick would destroy his portrait in a fiery rage before he'd sell it."

Tracy smiled sheepishly.

"Uh, right! I forgot!" Tracy held up her fist. "Hashtag: integrity!"

She then swung her fist which caused her to fall over. She quickly got back up on the rock and laughed nervously.

**GORGILLION DOLLAR PAINTING!**

Jackie and the others were just about finished setting up.

"This is our busking spot!" Corey complained. "So if those creepy mines want us to leave, they'll have to make us!"

"That's right Core!" Jackie smiled. "But they won't make us move no matter how hard they try!"

Just then, the five of them saw a mime creepily approaching them. He then stopped and hid behind an invisible wall.

"Look at em!" Kin said as more mimes joined the other one. "It's like they think we can't see them sneaking up on us!"

But they all screamed in surprise when one popped up in front of them.

"Go ahead Mime!" Corey said encouragingly. "Do your invisible worst!"

The mime smiled and laid down on a pretend bed. He was then woken up by a fake alarm clock. He got up and stretched before putting on some imaginary pants.

"Is that the best you got?" Kin taunted. "Waking up and getting dressed?"

"You tell em Kin!" Jackie patted Kin on the back which caused him to blush and giggle.

"Oh look!" Kon pointed at the mime who was putting pretend bread in a pretend toaster. "Now he's making toast!"

The mime sat in midair while turning invisible pages.

"Ooh..." Kon pretended to be scared. "And he can read the paper!"

"And sit comfortably on an imaginary-" Kin stopped and looked at the mime closer. "Actually, that's pretty good. It's like there really is a chair there."

"Bro? You smell something?" Kon sniffed the air. "Mr. Mime? I think your toast is burning!"

The mime smiled and stood up waving an imaginary lasso.

"Weird." Kin said. "How can I smell that?"

"Smell what?" Jackie was confused. "I don't smell anything."

Just then, Kin felt something wrap around his body.

"Huh? WAH!" The keyboardist was flung through the air and he landed next to the mime.

"Kin!" Jackie gasped. "Let him go you colorless clown! He's my keyboardist!"

Hearts came out of Kin.

"She actually thinks I'm significant! Sigh..."

The mime just rolled his eyes and dragged Kin away.

"I'll save you Kin!" Kon ran out of the busking spot to retrieve Kin.

"Kon wait!" Jackie called but Kon ignored her.

"How is this happening?" Laney wondered out loud. "The rope is fake!"

"Then how is Kin being dragged away?" Jackie asked.

Kon ran to Kin who was still tied up from the invisible rope.

"Kon! Let Jackie save me! She wants to!"

"Dude, she's not even into you!" Kon charged at the mime. "You break Kin, you buy him!"

"What just happened?!" Corey was mesmerized.

Billy came up to them.

"Legend has it if a mime can make you believe in em, their mimery becomes..." Billy paused dramatically. "Real!"

Jackie, Corey, and Laney stood shocked and horrified. Billy continued.

"And it's only a matter of time before..." Another pause. "Your turn!"

Kin and Kon came out from behind the trees riding invisible bicycles. Their faces were completely white and they were wearing black-and-white striped shirts and berets.

Jackie gasped again.

"Kin! Kon! What's happened to them Billy?"

Billy scratched his chin.

"Ah, looks like your friends are infected with...".

"...Dude! I can't handle any more dramatic pauses!" Corey complained.

"Sorry. They've got Myme Disease! The only cure is making a sound. And mimes don't do that! It's their thing." Billy made air quotations at the last part.

Then Kin, Kon, and the mimes surrounded Billy and the teenagers. Jackie, Corey, and Laney huddled up in fear.

"Billy! You gotta help us!" Corey cried.

Billy slowly moved his hand toward Corey. It looked like he was offering something.

"Ooh...sausage! Where's the mustard?" Corey took the imaginary sausage out of Billy's hand and was about to take a bite out of it when he realized what was going on.

"Wait...There's nothing there!" Corey exclaimed.

Jackie shrieked.

"Look Corey!"

Billy turned around and his face was white.

"No Billy! Not you too!" Corey screamed. He then straightened up and got all of his courage together.

"Get your mimed me away from me!" He ordered. "Jackie, Laney, and I will never believe!"

Jackie folded her arms and gave a winning smile.

"Yeah! Especially not Laney! She's the smartest girl I know! You can't fool her easily!"

"Corey, Jackie, I found the mustard." Laney said from behind the manager and the singer. The two turned around and saw Laney dressed as a mime squirting fake mustard on a fake hot dog and eating it.

Corey and Jackie screamed.

"NOOOOOO!"

Tracy heard the screaming from the other side of the park.

"Jackie sounds sad." She gasped as tears filled her eyes. "And I'm not there to mock her!"

"Rick thinks your pain is true." Rick said painting. "And therefore beautiful.

Corey and Jackie were still standing in the same spot where the mimes were guarding them.

"Don't worry guys!" Corey reassured his bandmates who were sitting with the other mimes. "Jackie and I will snap you out of that creepy mime spell! It's just a matter of time!"

The mime leader glanced at his invisible watch and shrugged. He pulled out another imaginary object.

"Oh, you're gonna wait us out while you read a fake book, eh?" Corey glared at the mime.

"Corey, what are we gonna do?" Jackie asked her favorite lead singer. "I don't want Laney, Kin, and Kon to stay mimes forever! You guys mean the world to me!"

Kin looked at Jackie with love in his eyes. Even though he was a mime, he still had feelings for the brown-haired manager. He drew an imaginary heart in the air while waving to his crush. Kon pulled out an invisible pitchfork and split the imaginary heart in two. Even though he was a mime, he still believed that his brother would never have a chance with Jackie.

"Think Corey think!" Corey mumbled to himself. Jackie started to think too until she saw the band's instruments and she got the perfect idea.

"I got it!" She exclaimed. "Core, why don't you jam out a tune and get Kin, Kon, and Laney to sing along? That'll totally cure them of their Myme Disease!"

"Hey, why didn't I think of that?" Corey was impressed. "Way to go Jacks! Now, about those lyrics..."

The mime leader snapped his fingers getting the two's attention. He and the others moved out of the way revealing Tracy posing for Rick Salary.

"Of course!" Corey exclaimed. "Thank you kind sir!"

He was about to step out of the circle but Jackie stopped him when she saw the excited look on the leader's face. It was then that Corey understood.

"Wait a minute!" Corey put his foot back in the circle. "You want us to leave so you can steal our spot! Nice try Mime!"

The mime leader looked down disappointed.

"Jackie, you stay here while I get the lyrics from Tracy!"

"But Corey, I can't guard this place all by myself! What if I get Myme Disease too?"

"Good point. I'll stay, you go."

"But what if you get the disease? I think we both have to go and get those lyrics so we don't risk it!"

"Yeah I guess so." Corey sighed. "But how can we get to Tracy without leaving this spot unguarded?"

"Hmm..." Jackie stood still in thought. "Well, they're mimes right? Maybe if we use their powers against them we can escape!"

"Ah-ha!" Corey exclaimed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pretend key. The mimes watched looking confused.

Corey pretended to turn a doorknob and opened an imaginary door.

"Ladies first." He told Jackie and she stepped out of the circle.

The blue-haired singer followed behind shutting the imaginary door and locking it with the fake key and he and Jackie proceeded to where Tracy was. The mime ran to the spot and started pulling on the invisible door. But he couldn't get it to open. He then attempted to ram the door down but instead he ended up hitting his head. He let out a scowl when he realized he had been out-mimed by two kids!

**MIMEY SKULL TRANSITION!**

Tracy was feeling very uncomfortable. She had been in the same pose for at least an hour. Of course, she was willing to do it for Rick but winning his heart definitely had its drawbacks. The teenager grunted in pain.

"Um, Rick? It's probably no biggie, but I can't feel my legs anymore..."

Tracy felt as if her legs were breaking into a million pieces.

"Rick's almost done." The popular boy reassured her.

A mother with a crying baby in a carriage was admiring Rick's artwork.

"What a breathtaking manifestation of truth and beauty." She said.

Her baby looked at the art from its carriage.

"I will never cry another tear." It said.

"I use really expensive conditioner!" Tracy claimed. "Let me see it!"

A goth girl came up talking on her cell phone.

"Whatever Mother..." She groaned but then gasped when she saw the artwork. A tear fell from her eye leaving her eye shadow dripping on her face.

"Mom? I'm sorry for everything ever!"

A ghost of an old man appeared next.

"Hot dog!" He exclaimed. "That's a beauty! I can finally cross over to the other side!"

With that, he disappeared out of thin air. Tracy meanwhile, was becoming even more impatient.

"Like O to the M to the G! LET ME SEE!"

Rick continued to paint as Tracy started to sweat with anticipation and anger. Finally after a few seconds, Rick was satisfied.

"Fini!" He cried. But just as he was about to show it to Tracy, Corey and Jackie came up.

"Hey, hey! Not bad!" Corey said.

"Yeah Rick! Very impressive!" Jackie nodded.

"We'll take it! Name your price!" Corey and Jackie pulled out a handful of cash. "Any price to sell out...side on this fine pay...Er, day!"

Rick frowned and pulled his painting away.

"No way!" He said firmly. "Rick Salary is no sell out!"

The teenaged hunk pulled out a match and lit his own art on fire.

"NO!" Tracy shrieked running over to save her portrait. But when she got there, all that was left was a pile of ashes. Corey and Jackie high-fived. Tracy held the remains of the painting in her hands. She felt like crying.

"Shame." Rick said not at all upset about destroying his own work. "Rick was totally gonna hang that in his locker."

Tracy growled and turned red. She shot up into the sky and went into her Diary Mode. She was surrounded by paintbrushes and paint palettes. Her diary and pen floated up to her and she started writing. Billy's hot dog cart, a trash can, and an outhouse blew up. When Tracy finished writing, she returned to normal and the diary landed in Corey's hand.

"Lyrics!" He cried. The boy pulled out his invisible key to unlock the fake door guarding his spot.

"I'm back and ready to rock! Hold on, something's missing..."

The band leader felt someone tap his shoulder. He looked up and saw Jackie looking nervous.

"Uh, Corey? We have a problem." She pointed ahead of her where the mimes were standing with the band's instruments.

"The instruments! But I locked the door!" He smacked himself with Tracy's diary. "Aw man! They snuck in through the window!"

The mimes mocked the two of them by pretending to cry. The leader even played a sad song on an imaginary violin. This was enough to give the blue-haired kid an idea.

"That's it! I can play air guitar!" He turned serious. "But I gotta give in fully and believe in the power of mime."

Corey bent down on the ground and picked up the fake sausage from before.

"Are you sure about this Corey?" Jackie asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about me Jackie. I'll be fine." He patted Jackie on the cheek. "But just in case I don't make it...take care of the band for me would ya?"

Jackie smiled. "You got it Core."

"Okay mime sausage! Make me a believer!"

With that, Corey ate the entire imaginary hot dog.

"Hm...should have eaten it warm." He swallowed. "Still good though."

Suddenly, Corey felt pain inside of him and he started groaning while falling to the ground.

"Core!" Jackie cried.

Corey felt a flash of lightning inside of him. He jumped up and played a sweet air guitar riff.

_When I say quiet, you say noise!_

_Quiet!_

"Noise!" Jackie shouted trying to encourage the other band members to join in.

_Quiet!_

"Noise!" Jackie was disappointed to see that she was the only one singing along but she knew the others would cave sometime.

_When I say quiet, you say noise!_

_Quiet!_

"Noise!"

_Quiet!_

"Noise!" Jackie continued to shout alone figuring Laney, Kin, and Kon would shout at one point.

_There's no gag on you girls and boys_

_Quiet!_

Laney opened her mouth but no words came out.

_Quiet!_

Kin and Kon tried too but they couldn't make a sound.

"C'mon guys! You can do it!" Jackie told them.

_Make that sound that your voice enjoys_

_Quiet!_

"Noise!" Laney, Kin, and Kon said in an almost whisper.

_Quiet!_

"NOISE!" The three rockers jumped into the air and landed next to Corey, finally cured of their Myme Disease. They started to play imaginary instruments too.

"It's working!" Jackie cheered.

The mime leader pointed toward the band and four other mimes fired pretend arrows at them. Kin and Kon used imaginary shields to protect themselves and kept playing.

_Don't just sit inside that box_

The mime leader set off a fake grenade and threw it at the band but Corey hit it back toward the mimes with a fake bat.

_Seize the day and make sure it rocks_

_Quiet!_

"Noise!" Billy went.

_Quiet!_

"Noise!" More people who had caught the disease chanted.

_You can be loud so let it out_

_Just scream and yell and sing and shout_

The mime leader was very angry but his anger turned to fear when his henchmen started dancing to the tune.

_No one can stop you so don't have a doubt_

_Now scream!_

The mimes cheered and threw their berets in the air.

"Yeah!" Billy exclaimed. "Sausages are on me!"

Soon all of the mimes had turned to people again. All of them except the leader who was upset that his plan had failed. He started to pack his invisible bags while glaring at Jackie and Grojband who were standing in what was now their busking spot.

"Now who's outnumbered Mimey?" Kon remarked.

"And don't let me catch you turning my band into one of your creepy kind again beret boy!" Jackie scolded.

The mime scowled, picked up his invisible bags, and walked into the forest.

"Does he have a treehouse in there?" Kon thought out loud.

"We won!" Kin shouted joyfully. "We beat the mimes! All thanks to the power of love..."

The boy with glasses looked up at Jackie and sighed happily. The rest of the teens stared at him awkwardly.

"Uh...I mean, uh...thanks to the power of music!" He corrected himself. "Yeah...totally meant that..."

Laney rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, I'd say we earned this spot!" She concluded. "Right Core?"

"Lanes, I just realized that this spot isn't nearly as cool as the spot we already have!" Corey said. "Whaddya say we go home to Jackie's garage gang? You don't mind do you Jacks?"

"Not really." Jackie smiled. "I'm just glad I got my favorite band back. Let's go home!"

Laney, Kin, and Kon high-fived as they followed the leader and manager back to Jackie's house. When the mime saw that they were gone, he was ecstatic. He ran over to the spot and kissed it multiple times. Then he rolled around in it so he could savor every moment of finally getting the spot he wanted.

Back at Jackie's place, the gang was watching the news again.

"This just in!" Destiny Providence said. "Statue Steve really is a human statue after all!"

"Or at least he used to be!" Buster Newsworthy added. "Before he died and was torn apart by a mob following our false news report! Heh, mobs!"

"So now a statue is being erected to honor Steve as a hero. To those who pretend to be statues."

A video was shown of a statue of Steve being moved to the same spot the mime was currently in. The statue landed right on top of the mime's foot causing him to scream in pain. When the crowd saw that a mime had made a sound, they booed in unison.

"Also in park news..." Destiny continued. "A cool young portrait artist destroys hundreds of his own paintings rather than sell them. The bidding war has climbed into the gorgillions."

Laney shut off the TV.

"What was that about?" She asked. "Did we miss something when we were mimes?"

"I know I missed something." Kin looked up at Jackie and a heart appeared above him. But the heart was soon broken by a pitchfork held by Kon.

"Dude!" Kin looked toward his twin brother. "Where'd you even get a real pitchfork?"

"One of the rioters dropped it." Kon replied. "Cool huh?"

Corey ignored the twins and looked back toward Laney.

"To answer your question Lanes..." A spotlight appeared over Corey. "We all miss something when we keep quiet. Our own voice. And in the end, isn't our voice all we really have? Our thoughts turned into sound as we exhale through the vibrating meat chamber that is the human throat. And when it comes down to it, there really is no amount of invisible sausage worth losing your voice over."

"What?! There was invisible sausage?! Aww..." Kon groaned.

Jackie giggled.

"Oh Kon! I'm so glad you can talk again!"

Kin gained a spark of jealousy.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! The episode for the next chapter has already been decided but leave some suggestions for other episodes that you want to see in the future. I'll try to get to all of them but in the meantime, just be patient.**


	6. Girls and Dolls

**This chapter is based on the episode Girl Fest which was requested by a guest reviewer. Hope you enjoy! **

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Girls and Dolls**

It was Friday afternoon in Tranquil Town. Grojband was waiting for Jackie to come home from school in the garage. Laney was sitting on the couch strumming some notes on her bass when Kin and Kon popped out of her case.

"Boo!" Kin cried.

"Surprise monster!" Kon yelled.

But Laney looked like she hadn't even seen the two.

"Nope. Not scared. Sorry." She went back to playing her bass.

"Boo…" Kin looked down sadly.

"Sad monster…" Kon looked over at Corey who was tuning his guitar.

"Corey…" he whined. "Tell Laney to scream like a girl! It's cool!"

"Corey…" Laney imitated Kon. "Tell Kon that you can't tell me what to do."

Corey put his guitar down.

"You're right Lanes." He said coming over to the couch. "So is Kon. Screaming girls are cool! A legion of screaming girl fans is a sure sign your band rocks!"

Laney glared at Corey offended. She was getting sick of her kind being known for being boy-crazy. Sure, she had a crush on the blue-haired kid, but that was different. It's not like she was obsessed with him or anything. In fact, sometimes she questioned herself as to why she fell in love with him.

Just then, the rock and roll group heard footsteps from outside the garage. Kon gasped.

"Finally! Jackie's home!" he cried out heading for the door. "Time to get some screams from a real girl!"

"Real girl?!" Laney stood up ready to inflict physical pain on Kon but Corey held her back.

Kon stood near the door getting ready to scare his manager until Kin zipped in front of him.

"Oh no you don't!" Kin scolded his twin brother. "You can scare any girl you want, but not Jackie!"

"Aww…why not?" Kon complained.

"She's sensitive." Kin explained. "If she gets scared in any way, who knows what'll happen? She'll probably cry her gorgeous brown eyes out or the thought of her own drummer frightening her may cause her heart to break into a thousand itty bitty wittle pieces."

Kon just stared at Kin blank. Corey and Laney did the same.

"Seriously?" Laney raised an eyebrow. "C'mon Kin. Jackie's made of tougher stuff than that."

"Yeah bro. Lighten up. Just let me scare her once." Kon gave Kin big eyes. "Please?"

But Kin didn't go for it.

"No way! Jackie's a very delicate human being who needs a brave, strong guy to protect her."

"Oh yeah?" Kon remarked. "Who's the brave, strong guy? King Lyricles?"

"Kon, it's me." Kin replied.

Kon bit his lip trying to hold back laughter but after a few seconds, he couldn't hold it anymore.

"You?!" Kon said through guffaws. "Oh that's rich! Stop it! You're killing me!"

Sure enough, Corey and Laney were laughing too. Kin just stared at all three of them annoyed. Kon wiped a tear from his eye as he looked back at his brother.

"Dude, you're not even close to the kind of guy you just described!"

"Yeah Kin." Corey added. "You get nervous just from looking at Jackie."

"If you ask me, she should be looking after you." Laney agreed.

"Oh yeah? Well I'll show you! Okay Kon, go ahead and scare her. Once she's traumatized, I'll comfort her with my smooth charm."

Just then, Jackie entered the garage.

"Hey guys."

"BOO!" Kon went. Kin shrieked and hid behind Jackie. Jackie looked behind her where Kin was quivering in fear. Kin stopped when he saw her and blushed with embarrassment.

"Real smooth dude." Kon commented.

Jackie walked to where Corey and Laney were.

"There's the coolest manager in town!" Corey exclaimed. Laney gave him a glare when he said this.

"Just the girl I wanted to see!" Corey leaned his arm on the brunette. "Did you get us a gig for this Saturday? We've got the perfect plan to make Tracy go diary!"

Jackie shook her head.

"Sorry guys. No gig this week. I'm busy."

Corey was shocked by this news.

"Busy?!" he went. "How could you be too busy to help us? Your favorite band?!"

"The Lady Rage Festival is this weekend. I go every year to see Casey Jams rock out some tunes from the heart."

Jackie pulled a flyer out of her backpack and showed it to Corey. Corey took the flyer and read it. Then he beamed when he got to the bottom of the page.

"Hey! This says that they need an opening act! That could be us! After all, there'll be a ton of girls there and when they see us on stage, their screaming will be louder than our music!"

"Core, girls go to Lady Rage for legit rock from legit girl rockers like Casey." Jackie told the lead singer. "Not to scream at boys."

"That's because they haven't heard Grojband yet!" Corey exclaimed. "C'mon! You have to let us audition! Please?!"

"That's it, give her the eyes!" Kon said.

Jackie tried to look away but Corey's bambi eyes were too much to handle. She groaned.

"All right! Fine! But I really don't think you'll be eligible. They are looking for girl bands after all."

"Don't worry about it Jacks! Once they hear us, they'll change their minds in a heartbeat!"

"Yeah, then we won't have to scare girls to get them to scream at us!" Kin said.

"Scare girls?" Jackie was confused but then she understood. "So that's what you and Kon were trying to do when I came in!"

"Huh?" Kin tried to explain himself. "No, no, see that was-"

"You know Kin, scaring people isn't nice. And it's especially not nice to scare girls."

"But I-I-"

"Promise me you won't try to scare girls anymore, okay?"

"But-" Kin looked at Jackie as she folded her arms and gave him a stern look. He didn't want the girl he was not-so-secretly in love with to be upset with him. He sighed.

"I promise."

The next day, Jackie took the band to audition for Casey Jam's opening act. Mayor Swellow was judging the auditions. He sat across from them as they played one of their songs. When the band finished, he applauded.

"Great audition!" he said impressed. "You'd be the perfect opening act for Casey Jams!"

Corey had a big smile on his face which didn't last long.

"But you're not!" the mayor finished. "Now get out of here and never come back! Lady Rage is a lady festival! And no offense honey, you're no lady!"

Jackie came up to Corey holding her clipboard.

"I hate to say I told you so Corey, but I told you so!"

Corey beamed.

"Wait!" he said to Mayor Swellow. "Our manager, Jackie is a lady! Maybe you can reconsider!"

"Sorry!" the politician told him. "We don't take girls in management! If you wanna be on that stage, you gotta have a girl who performs with rage."

Corey looked down disappointed but then he beamed again when he saw Laney scratching her nose.

"Wait!" he ran up to the red-head and put an arm around her. "I think Laney's a lady! She's full of rage!"

Laney quickly put her finger down when the mayor turned his attention to her.

"Don't let the nose picking fool you!" Corey reassured Swellow. "She's the boss of us! Really!"

Mayor Swellow smiled.

"A girl leading a band of boys and picking her nose like a champ? You're in!"

Corey squealed in excitement. Laney poked him on the back.

"Ahem!" she began. "A. I was scratching my nose and B. what are you doing?"

Corey put his arm back around Laney making her smile lovingly.

"C'mon Lanes! You earned a shot to rock the mic and we can't play the show any other way!"

He poked Laney on the nose.

"You couldn't 'pick' a better reason!"

Laney's love-struck trance suddenly turned to rage. She poked Corey on his nose in a threatening way.

"Say 'pick' again!" she shouted waving her fist in his face. "Say it!"

Jackie held Laney back.

"Chill out Laney! I think you're perfect for this gig! If anyone deserves a solo, it's you!"

"You really think so?" Laney was still a bit unsure.

"Totally! And the best part is, you'll have me, your fellow girl manager, to set everything up for you!"

Laney smiled a little.

"Okay. I'll give it a shot."

A few hours later, a huge crowd of girls, women, and elderly ladies were lined up outside to watch Casey Jams walk the red carpet. When the limo pulled up, all of them started screaming. Tracy and Macy were in the back excitedly awaiting for the rock star's arrival. However, Tracy was the most excited.

"Casey Jams is here!" she screamed happily. "I gotta get close! Macy! Elbows!"

Macy lifted up her elbows and shoved some of the female fans out of the line.

"Here you go T!" Macy said. "Front row!"

Tracy squealed and climbed on top of Macy.

"Sup ladies?" Casey called out as she walked to the backstage door. "Who's ready to rage?"

"Casey!" Tracy cried. "Your songs are so true with emotions and junk!"

She ran up to where Casey was only to get held back by a tall muscular bodyguard.

"Your first hit, 'You Can't Tell I Love You', is totes how I feel about this guy I feel that way about!"

"You're the voice of her soul Casey!" Macy waved while Tracy glared at her.

"You should be the voice of your own soul girl." Casey said as she entered the building. "Peace!"

The bodyguard shut the door and stood in front of it.

"Way to mess up who the voice of my soul is Macy!" Tracy scolded her best friend.

Jackie and the band went up to meet Casey.

"I can't wait to hear all of those girls and their beautiful screams!" Corey exclaimed.

"There you go again! Always with the screaming girls!" Laney complained. "You're gonna get a different kind of scream in a second if you don't knock it off."

"Rage on lady!" Casey complimented the red-head. She got up in Corey's face. "Even if this dude can't handle it! Your music is you."

Casey looked over at Jackie next.

"And you girlfriend, are really something. You sure know how to put a bunch of guys in line!"

Jackie blushed and smiled.

"Wow, thanks! I usually just tell them what to do and they listen really. Not too difficult."

Casey chuckled. "I like your style kid. Hey, I need some raging ladies to open this show. Ladies who do their own thing no matter what some guy says. You girls think you're up for it?"

"Yeah, sure!" Laney nodded. "Me and my band can bring it!"

"Wait, girls? As in both of us?" Jackie asked. "Uh, no, no, no! I'm just their manager. I don't sing."

Casey chuckled again.

"C'mon girl. You're not really going to let some guys control your life are you? You look like a singer at heart. And isn't that what my music is all about? Finding what's true to you?"

Jackie thought about it.

"Well, it would be pretty cool to perform on stage. Being manager doesn't exactly make you a big deal."

Casey gave Jackie a light punch on her arm.

"That's the spirit!" she put her arms around both of the girls and led them to the dressing room. "Let's swap deeds. You boys run along and play."

"Right away Miss Jams!" Corey called out. "Get your rage on you two! We'll go scare up some screaming girls!"

Suddenly, Corey heard thunder and saw a flash of lightning. He turned around and saw Kin and Kon wearing hockey masks and carrying dangerous weapons. Kon laughed evilly.

"Scare!"

"No, no, no!" Corey waved his finger at the twins. "I don't mean scare them literally!"

He got up in Kin's face.

"Remember Kin, you promised Jackie you wouldn't scare girls anymore. You wouldn't want her to be disappointed in you would ya?"

Kin gasped and thought about how angry Jackie would be with him.

"_Kin!_" she would say. "_I can't believe you! You make a promise to me and then you go and break it! I don't know why I would put my trust into someone who's as untrustworthy as you Kin!_"

Kin screamed as his horrible thought ended.

"Okay! Okay!" he wailed. "I won't scare a single soul! Why do you always have to bring Jackie into everything?"

"Motivation." Corey replied. "So remember, we want happy screams like…"

He did a girl's voice and giggled.

"Hee, hee! Grojband is so cool! Not…"

He screamed.

"Chainsaw maniacs! Or…snakes!"

Kon took off his mask.

"Snakes! Why didn't I think of that?"

**WHY DIDN'T HE THINK OF THAT?**

"Casey! Casey! Casey!" chanted two girls waiting outside the gate. The two of them had been eager to see their favorite female rocker for a while just like they were every year. The funny thing was that these girls were actually Grojband's number one fans, Kelsey and Alyssa. They were Jackie's friends at first because they both shared a love of Grojband. Well, actually, they didn't just love it, they were obsessed with it. So when Jackie introduced the cartoon band to her, they went crazy. Since then, they always came to Grojband's gigs to scream loud for them. But this time, they were planning on screaming for someone else. Corey came out from inside the ticket booth to meet them.

"Hey groupies!" he said. "You here to see us rock Lady Rage? You might wanna warm up your screaming muscles!"

"Grojband is playing?" Alyssa was dumbfounded. "We actually came to see Casey Jams."

Kelsey nodded in anticipation.

"Well we're opening for her!" Corey informed the girls. "Feel like screaming yet?"

And the two best friends did but for a completely different reason.

"Did you meet her?"

"How tall is she?"

"What kind of nails is she as tough as?"

"Casey! Casey!"

Corey couldn't believe it. It was like his fans didn't care if he was there or not. Just then, Kon came up carrying a pair of pythons.

"Who likes snakes?!" he cried.

The snakes in his hands hissed and tied him up. The drummer screamed as the snakes attacked him.

"AAA! Their pointy little teeth really hurt!"

Corey and his fangirls just watched the scene with blank faces.

Tracy, meanwhile, was still on top of Macy chanting in front of the crowd.

"Casey! Casey! Casey-"

"Hey Tracy Matthews. And Tracy Junior." A familiar voice came from behind the teenager. Tracy turned around and saw the boy of her dreams riding on top of another girl.

"Rick! You came to Lady Rage?"

"Rick Salary's here to see Casey."

"Me too!" Tracy exclaimed. "She's the only girl who knows the junk I feel and so on and so forth! It's so cool that you like her too!"

"I know." Rick smiled as the girl he was riding carried him off. "Enjoy the show Tracy Matthews."

Tracy looked down at her curly-haired best friend.

"Macy! We have to get Casey to play 'You Can't Tell I Love You' so Rick and I can ride into Smooch City!"

Casey was currently lying down on the couch in her dressing room. Jackie and Laney noticed how big it was.

"Wow, rage really pays huh?" Laney looked around.

"You made it big Casey!" Jackie agreed.

The two girls glanced at the mirror where they saw a picture of a familiar boy in the corner.

"Is that Rick Salary?" Jackie asked.

"We used to date." Casey explained. "I wrote a song about him. Then I broke it off."

"You dumped him?!" Laney said in disbelief.

"He was making me all soft rock. Made me wanna puke."

"Cool." Laney smiled. "Most girls are boy crazy. I should have known you'd be tougher!"

"Says the girl who's crushing on the band's lead guitarist." Jackie teased. Laney put a hand over Jackie's mouth before Casey could hear this. But Casey wasn't paying attention anyway because someone caught hers already.

"Rick Salary says: Hey Casey."

Casey squealed which confused the other girls.

"I thought you broke up?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah…but he's still so cute!"

Rick winked which made Casey giggle.

"This boy makes me cray-cray!"

Jackie and Laney glanced at each other and they both shrugged.

Back outside with the crowd of ladies, Corey was explaining the job he had for the groupies.

"So when we hit the stage, you can scream any way you want! As long as it's loud! Cool?"

"Oh we'll be loud!" Kelsey promised. "Especially if Casey plays 'Mind Over Mister'!"

Alyssa nodded excitedly but Corey looked annoyed.

"Let me guess. That song's about love."

"Pfft, no!" Kelsey scoffed. "It's about the God of Rock recruiting soldiers to fight against the Lord of Silence!"

"Really?" Corey said. "That sounds pretty cool."

"And it's about love too." Alyssa continued. "A bit."

Kin and Kon were hiding in the bushes watching Corey and the girls talking.

"We gotta go scarier!" Kon decided. "Maybe I should bite the head off a bat! What do you think Kin?"

"I think that this is a huge mistake and I'm not doing it."

"But whyyyy?" Kon whined.

"I promised Jackie that I wouldn't scare anymore girls." Kin said firmly. "And for her, I'm going to keep that promise."

"Ha, ha! Very funny Kin! Always with the joking around. So what sound do you wanna make when we pop up?"

"Kon, I'm serious."

"What? Dude! You're really going to let a girl come between you and the things you love doing?"

"Well-"

Kon grabbed Kin's face and pointed it to where the groupies were standing.

"Look at those unsuspecting victims…look at them Kin…they're standing there…just waiting to get spooked…c'mon…you know you want to…"

"Yeah…" Kin smiled evilly. "I do…I really, really do…"

The boy with glasses started to laugh maniacally but then he heard Jackie's voice in his head.

"_Kin you big jerk! I should have known you'd go back on your word! I'm never gonna talk to you again!_"

Kin gave a horrified gasp. He shook his head and turned back to normal. He looked back at Kon.

"No! I'm not gonna do it!"

"Whatever." Kon rolled his eyes. "Do what you want man. But just to let you know, I never promised Jackie anything! So if you'll excuse me…"

Kon lifted up the bush he was standing in and zipped up behind the two groupies.

"So, we got ourselves a deal then?" Corey asked them.

Kon bumped into the girls and popped out of the bush carrying a baseball bat.

"I'm insane!" he shouted biting the bat's head off. But Kelsey and Alyssa just stood awkwardly in silence. Kon slowly ducked back into the bush and scooted away.

**HOMONYM TRANSITION!**

"Sorry. Nobody sees Casey Jams." The muscular bodyguard told Tracy as she stood outside the door to go backstage.

"But I have to!" Tracy begged.

"Got a song request huh? Sorry."

Tracy growled.

"MACY! FINISH HIM!"

Macy jumped into the air and embraced the bodyguard's head.

"Go to sleep…" she grunted.

In the dressing room, Casey was admiring her picture of Rick on her mirror. She giggled while drawing a heart over his face. Jackie and Laney just watched looking a bit creeped out.

"Um…so…" Laney began. "About the music?"

"Right!" Casey snapped out of her love trance. "Important stuff!"

"Wardrobe's here!" a male voice called.

A man wearing a suit came in with a huge line of clothes. When Casey saw it, she gave a girly squeal.

"EEE! Clothes!"

"Wear the leather jacket." The man suggested. "It'll work with that new song I just wrote for you about leather jackets."

"I hope it doesn't have big words like the last one." Casey grabbed her head. "Brain ouchie!"

She and the man laughed.

"Wrote your song?!" Laney went.

"No big words?!" Jackie joined in.

"Did you just say 'eee clothes'?!"

"Totes!" Casey nodded. "Laney, Jackie, this is my manager Guy Broman! Isn't he the best?"

Guy smiled full of pride.

"You sing about being your own girl, and you're taking orders from a dude named Guy Broman?!" Laney said exasperated. "Girls look up to you!"

"Including me!" Jackie cried.

"And when they look up, they can look cute!" Casey held up a brush and a blush container. "With new Lady Rage Makeup! You girls get to open my show and launch my brand!"

Laney and Jackie stood in shock.

"Makeover!" Casey cheered.

Laney and Jackie both frowned angrily. They looked at each other and realized what they needed to do. Quickly, they headed outside where Corey was.

"And the Dead Roses play tomorrow!" Kelsey told Corey. "You should get their new album!"

Alyssa held up her phone and showed the band leader a picture of Dead Roses' lead guitarist.

"Shut Up and Get Loud!"

"Man, girls have been making music for years!" Corey acted surprised. "I had no idea!"

He then saw his manager and bassist coming up to him growling and grumbling.

"Hey Lanes! Jacks! Turns out lady rock is legit!"

"Casey Jams is a boy-crazy fraud!" Jackie informed the blue-haired boy.

"And this festival is a sham to sell makeup!" Laney continued. "I can't go on stage and pretend this is about music!"

"And I can't sing for someone who's leading me down the wrong path in life!" Jackie folded her arms and growled.

"Okay girls, we've never bailed on a gig before, but you can't sell out your own-"

"BAIL?!" Laney grabbed Corey by his shirt collar. "We're gonna rock the truth out and bring this festival down!"

She let go and calmed down a bit.

"We just came to tell you, we need lyrics."

"Oh…okay! How do we-?"

"Rick Salary and Casey Jams used to date." Laney answered before he could finish.

Jackie pulled out two backstage passes.

"I'll give Tracy these, and when she sees Rick and Casey reuniting…"

"Her backstage pass will turn into a one-way ticket to diary town!" Laney finished.

"Wow, you are the band leaders today!" Corey declared.

"I know!" Laney said. "It's really cool."

"Totally." Jackie concurred. "But I learned it all from you Core."

Laney ran off and Jackie was about to follow her when she realized something. She looked back at Corey.

"Um…by the way…where are Kin and Kon?"

"Don't worry! I'll get em!"

Kelsey and Alyssa were currently watching Kon who was wearing a witch's hat and stirring a green potion in a cauldron. Kin was watching from the sidelines trying not to get involved in fear of disappointing the love of his life.

"And let Glorgarian, Lord of Terror, be loosed upon the world!" Kon chanted.

Suddenly, Corey popped out from the inside of the cauldron.

"Sorry guys. We gotta go!"

"But they were terrified!" Kon said disappointed.

Kelsey looked over at Alyssa.

"That was lame."

Macy continued attempting to crush Casey's bodyguard's head. She struggled and sweated but the guard wasn't budging.

"You bout done?" he asked her. "I'm bored."

Macy got down from his head and gave him a tough expression.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to-oof!"

The backstage door opened slamming Macy against the wall of the building.

"Hey Tracy!" Jackie called. "You guys want backstage passes to see Casey Jams?"

"I only need one!" Tracy snatched the pass out of Jackie's hand and ran inside squealing. Jackie followed her shutting the door. Macy fell off the wall with a black mark on her face.

Tracy zoomed to Casey's dressing room where Casey was lying on her couch.

"Casey!" she cried. "You have to play 'You Can't Tell I Love You' today!"

"Hey super fan!" she greeted the selfish teenager. "I was gonna play that one anyway. For Rick."

Rick came out from behind the curtain.

"Rick likes hearing songs about Rick."

"How did you know it was about you?" Tracy asked surprised. "Did Macy tell you the junk I feel?"

"Duh! It's about him because I wrote it about him back when we dated."

Tracy stood up with a shocked expression.

"Dated?! You felt the junk that I feel for Rick?!" Tracy clenched her fists in anger. "I don't even feel my own feelings?!"

Tracy growled and shot up into the air. Her Diary Mode had just begun and this time she was surrounded by flyers for Lady Rage and Lady Rage makeup. She grabbed her diary and started writing. As she wrote, thunderclouds appeared over the main stage. Tracy then finished writing and fell to the ground. Corey caught the diary in his hands.

"What was that about?" Casey asked Corey.

"Every lady rages in her own way?" Corey smiled nervously.

Mayor Swellow stepped up to the mic on stage.

"Ladies and ladies! Get ready to rage!" he pointed to the band which was already in position. "Let's get it started with Grojband!"

Jackie and Laney each had a microphone and were jumping up and down to the music the boys were playing.

_Laney: It started with a smile_

_We were happy for a while_

_Jackie: But I'm thinking you lied to us_

_Now we're gonna yell and put up a fuss_

_Laney: Your words had such a ring_

_That we couldn't hear a thing_

_Jackie: But now we see what you're all about_

_Both: And we can't sit still we gotta scream and shout!_

_You're so untrue_

_We see through you_

_We'll yell and scream till we go blue_

_Your front's a fake_

_You low grass snake_

_To mess with us is a big mistake_

_You're so untrue_

_With you we're through_

_What goes around's coming back at you!_

The crowd cheered as the song ended.

"Thank you!" Laney yelled. "But you're cheering for a scam!"

"Yeah, Casey Jams just wants you to buy her new makeup!" Jackie pulled on a rope and a banner of Casey Jams and her make up appeared in front of the curtain. But when the crowd saw it, they just screamed louder.

"Don't let her make you over!" Laney tried to persuade them.

Casey grabbed the mic.

"It's the makeup I use to be my own lady!" she pulled out several containers. "Show your rage with 21 colors of gloss!"

"Finally!" Kelsey said to Alyssa. "We can be as true to ourselves as Casey Jams!"

Tracy jumped on the stage and shrieked with joy despite being angry at Casey earlier. She and the other girls charged on stage chanting Casey's name.

**POW!**

Jackie and Grojband were run over by a thousand screaming girls. Kelsey and Alyssa started putting on Casey's makeup. Casey and Guy winked at each other knowing that their work was done.

The band's instruments were totaled and the band members had been trampled. Kon popped out from under his broken drum set.

"I didn't make a single girl scream." He said disappointed. "I guess they scream because they want to. You can't just trick em. Man Kin, you were right to keep your promise to Jackie."

Kin looked at Kon's sad face and felt a wave of sympathy. Sure he loved Jackie but he loved his twin brother too. He thought for a second and then got an idea to cheer Kon up.

"Hey Kon? I may have promised Jackie that I wouldn't scare girls anymore, but I never promised that I wouldn't scare old ladies!"

Kon brightened and high fived Kin.

"Suh-weeeet!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

The gang arrived back at the garage, exhausted after what they had dealt with.

"I have to say though…" Kin looked at Jackie with hearts in his eyes. "You have a beautiful singing voice Jackie."

"Thanks Kin. But, I think I'm gonna stick with managing for now." She held onto her aching back. "Being a rock star is painful!"

Laney was still ranting about Casey to Corey.

"How could all those girls buy into a fake image? How did I?"

Corey put his hand on Laney's shoulder.

"Rage makes us all blind Lanes." He told her.

Laney smiled at Corey and hearts came out of her. A spotlight appeared over Corey.

"You just see red and you can't make out any details. You don't want to. All you want is to make someone else pay because it feels so good! And only in the end, when it's gone…can you see what you are."

The spotlight disappeared and Laney stared at Corey.

"Rage issues much?"

"Did I say rage?" Corey laughed. "I meant makeup! Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**I have to say, these newer chapters are a lot harder to type than the earlier ones. This is my longest one yet! Anyway, I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and make sure you leave some suggestions for the next episode. Also, there is one more episode that will have to be put off for a later time and that's "Wish Upon a Jug" which has to come after "Rock the House" because of something that I don't want to reveal but you most likely already know. **


	7. The Inside Job

**This new chapter is based on the episode Inn Er Face which was requested by AvrilLavigneFan2001. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**The Inside Job**

Kon grabbed the pitcher full of coffee and poured it out for the fifth time that day. He tipped the mug over and opened his mouth but he missed and the coffee spilled over the garage floor. He didn't notice though because he was working too hard to keep his eyes open.

"You're doing great bro!" Kin said checking his watch. "You've been awake for seventy-nine hours!"

Laney was sitting on the couch reading a magazine.

"Is this part of helping Jackie with her project for the school science fair?"

Kon accidentally stepped on a skateboard and crashed into his drums. He tipped another mug full of coffee toward his mouth but missed again.

"No. He thinks his dreams will be more awesome if he saves them up." Kin pulled out a small device from his pocket. "This is the project I've been making for Jackie."

Corey came over to the couch.

"Not bad Kin. What's the experiment?" he talked in a lovey-dovey voice. "To see how much Jackie will love you for doing her science homework?"

"Yeah, I bet you're looking for a different kind of chemistry from her, aren't you?" Laney made kissing noises and she and Corey laughed. Kin just glared.

"First of all, I'm doing this because I can't resist a science experiment. Secondly, I'm not in love with Jackie!"

"Hi Kin." A voice said from behind the keyboardist.

Kin turned around and saw his manager smiling down at him. He smiled back and held his invention to his heart.

"Oh, uh…heh, heh! Hi Jackie…" he gave a nerdy giggle.

"Oh I get it!" Corey snapped his fingers. "That thing in his hands must be a magnet so he can attract Jackie to him!"

He and Laney laughed. Jackie stood confused.

"What is he talking about Kin?"

"Huh? Uh…well…it's…" he cleared his throat. "Nothing important…heh, heh!"

"Well anyway, I figured out what I'm going to do for my project!" Jackie continued. "And you guys are gonna help me! We're gonna blow the universe's mind by demonstrating the healing powers of rock!"

"Um…how?" Laney asked.

"Easy!" Jackie went on to explain. "Tuba Tom has a gnarly cold. I'll put some headphones on him, you guys rock a tune, science happens, and poof! His cold is gone! Grojband proves it's the cure for what ails you!"

"Now that is way better than whatever Kin came up with!" Corey exclaimed.

"Aww…but I spent all week making this shrink ray for you." Kin showed Jackie the device he had in his hands and blushed. "I put a lot of effort into it to make sure you won first prize."

"Aw, Kin that's so sweet." Jackie took the shrink ray. "But I can't take credit for something you made. A smart kid like you deserves all the credit in the world."

She patted the boy in glasses on his cheek.

"Thanks anyway though."

Kin went into a love-struck trance as Jackie set down his shrink ray on a coffee table.

"I'll just put this down here where it can cause no harm at all." She told the others.

"If we're gonna rock, I should catch a nap first." Kon opened up one of his drums and crawled inside. "Let's see what kind of dream stew's been bubbling for 79 hours."

With that the drummer fell asleep after shutting himself in his own drum. Then Tracy came in with Macy who was carrying a huge machine.

"Whatever your project is, burn it and avoid public unworthiness!" Tracy said to her sister. She waved her arm in front of the machine Macy was carrying. "The 'Together Forever Tester' that I forced Macy to build is gonna prove that Rick and I will be together forever!"

At her last words she raised up her arms knocking Macy to the ground.

Kin was still in a trance when he heard Tracy say this.

"Together Forever Tester?" he zipped up to where Macy had fallen and an idea popped in his head. "Uh, hey Tracy? Would you mind if I used this machine for a second and see if I'm meant to be with the one I love?"

He reached for the handle but Tracy slapped his hand away.

"Ew! Get your gross nerdy little hands off!" she scolded. "It doesn't work on total drips! Especially not a drip who's gross enough to actually like my sister!"

Kin blushed with embarrassment as Jackie looked at him.

"What is she talking about Kin?"

"Uh…nothing important…" Kin said still too scared to tell Jackie.

"…Anyway…" Jackie looked at Tracy. "Sorry sis! Grojband and I are gonna win the science fair this year!"

"Yeah!" Corey nodded. "We're proving the healing powers of rock! So there!"

"C'mon guys!" Jackie walked toward the door as the others followed her. "Let's go see if Tom's cold is any worse!"

"Fingers crossed." Laney said crossing her fingers.

Tracy scowled.

"There's no way I'm gonna let the science of destiny get oozed on by the science of…whatever! I'm wrecking their stuff!"

Tracy looked down and saw Kin's shrink ray sitting on the coffee table. She picked it up and aimed it at Kon's drum set. She pressed a button and a laser fired toward the drum set causing it to shrink to microscopic size. However, unknown to Tracy was that Kon was still inside the drums so he was shrunk down too!

Kon yawned as he came out of the drum he was inside. But when he looked down he realized he was falling in mid-air and screamed. He landed on top of the pedal to Kin's keyboard. Then Corey's guitar fell on top of it launching Kon into the air. Tracy opened her mouth to laugh maniacally and when she did, Kon flew inside, bounced off her tongue and fell down her throat.

Macy got up still carrying the machine.

"Wow! You disappeared their drums!" she exclaimed.

Tracy looked at the device in her hands.

"Yeah, I thought this was a flame thrower but whatevs!"

Kon continued to fall down Tracy's esophagus.

"What a fun, horrible dream!" he pulled out his cell phone. "I gotta record this for Kin! Woohoo!"

The drummer landed in a vat of stomach acid and started taking pictures.

**STOMACH BILE SELFIE!**

Everyone at Jackie's school had gathered into the gymnasium for the science fair. Mayor Swellow and Rick Salary were standing on stage.

"Swellow students!" the mayor greeted. "Welcome to the Elementary High science fair! Your projects better be good! Cause this judge is in a judging mood!"

Rick took the mic and talked into it.

"Guest judge Rick Salary wants you to believe in yourselves." He said encouragingly. "X doesn't equal Y. It equals Y not?"

Jackie and the band were with Tuba Tom who was looking worse than before. He sneezed violently into his tuba spraying mucous everywhere.

"Don't worry Tuba Tom!" Jackie told him. "My band will rock your cold away! Right Laney?"

"Sure Jacks." Laney said. "As soon as Kon gets here and you know, we get some virus-killing lyrics!"

Kin had just received a text from his twin brother.

"Kon says he's dreaming he's been shrunk down and swallowed by Tracy." He informed his friends. "But that's ridiculous! Or is it?"

He showed Jackie, Corey, and Laney a video of Kon tickling Tracy's insides with a bone.

Tracy was currently talking with Rick. She clutched her stomach while giggling.

"I'm so glad you're guest judging this ye-hahahahaha!" Tracy laughed and then belched loudly. She quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"Yep. He's in there." Corey declared.

"But my shrink ray only lasts for an hour!" Kin started to panic. "Or the exact amount of time before being small gets boring!"

"So what happens if Kon gets bored?" Jackie asked her favorite genius.

"He'll revert back to his normal size and Tracy will explode!"

Jackie shuddered at the thought.

"Yeesh! I love when Tracy explodes but not like this!"

"And if Tracy explodes, we won't have any more lyrics!" Corey gasped. "We gotta get Kon outta there!"

"We'll need Tracy, my shrink ray, and a really small submarine."

"But the shrink ray is back at the garage!" Jackie suddenly realized. "How are we going to get to it?"

Then Kin was hit in the head by something and he found that it was his shrink ray!

"Way to not make a flamethrower science failers!" Tracy yelled at the four as she and Macy passed them.

"Wow, that's convenient." Laney said.

"It gets convenienter!" Corey gestured to a giant submarine behind him.

"Let's get shrinky!" Kin exclaimed as he handed Jackie the shrink ray and climbed inside the submarine.

"Be careful Kin. I don't want you getting hurt."

Kin laughed and blushed at his crush's concern.

"Oh, I'll be fine. But if you want, you can come with me in case-"

But Jackie had already shrunk Kin and the submarine before he had the chance to finish. Corey grabbed it and ran off with the girls just as the boy who owned the sub was about to show it to the judges.

"My mini-sub will bring the ocean depths to the common man."

The kid opened his eyes and was shocked to see that his invention was gone. Mayor Swellow looked at him unimpressed.

"Lies have no place in science. You get a disqualification ribbon!" he pulled out a ribbon and slapped it on the boy's face.

Corey held Kin and the sub in his hand.

"Now to get you inside Tracy's face. But how?"

The three teens overheard a conversation going on across from them.

"Yeah, it's a slingshot I made. It's pretty rad."

Meanwhile, Tracy and Macy were setting up their project, or at least Macy was.

"C'mon Macy!" Tracy whined impatiently. "The quicker you science up this junk, the quicker I can prove to the world that I am destined to be with-"

She gasped when she saw Rick flipping his hair.

"Hunky Rick Salary…" she sighed.

Corey had gotten a hold of the kid's slingshot and aimed it at Tracy's open mouth. But he missed and there was a red splotch on Tracy's machine.

"Eeek!" Corey clenched his teeth.

"Good thing you practiced with that cherry tomato." Laney handed the mini-sub to Corey. "You'd better not do that with Kin."

"Rick Salary you will be my-" Tracy coughed and gagged as Kin and the sub flew into her mouth.

"Yes!" Corey cheered. "Down the hatch!"

Kon was still in Tracy's stomach chowing down on snacks that Tracy had been eating. Kin landed next to him in the submarine.

"Hey bro!" Kon called. "Welcome to my dream! Soggy cheese doodle?"

Kin opened the door to the sub, grabbed Kon, and slapped him across the face.

"You're awake! You've been shrunk and you're in Tracy's stomach! We gotta get you outta here before you unshrink and Tracy goes kablowie!"

Laney looked at her phone.

"Kin says they're headed for Tracy's sweat glands. Konvida plan…" she rolled her eyes. "P."

"Then Tracy needs to work up a sweat!" Corey decided.

**NOT GONNA GET BEAT OUT!**

A boy with glasses was demonstrating his science project to the mayor and the hunk.

"What do we do with the mighty potato?" he asked them. "We mash it, we fry it, but trapped within is pure energy! Behold the potato powered clock!"

He looked down and saw that there was no longer a potato powering the clock. He gasped and tears filled his eyes.

"Rick was hoping this project had a snacking component." Rick said disappointed.

Mayor Swellow slapped a disqualification ribbon on the boy's shirt.

"This science 'fair' is looking science 'poor' to me!"

Tracy sat on the table where all the projects were sitting on looking sad.

"Why hasn't Rick come over to tell me I'm the best yet?" she asked herself as a red light shined over her.

Corey, Laney, and Jackie were hiding above her shining a lamp on her.

"This potato powered heat lamp will really get her pores pumping!" Laney said.

Kin and Kon were currently in Tracy's sweat glands.

"What a beautiful night." Kon said.

"Kon? That thick sky is Tracy's skin." Kin explained. "If she explodes, this beautiful night will be all over the gym!"

"Awesome! I can't wait to see how I'll dream that up! I bet it'll be all…" he made exploding noises. Kin gasped when he saw that the sub was moving upward due to Tracy's sweat rising.

"She's sweating!" Kin cried. "Here we go bro!"

Macy came over to Tracy and wiped some sweat off her forehead.

"Ugh, so hot…" she groaned squeezing some sweat out of her hair. Tracy looked at her disgusted.

"Sweating is for gross farmers!"

The evil teenager glanced up at her forehead and growled when she saw a sweat drop. Quickly, the sweat drop made its way back into Tracy's forehead along with Kin and Kon.

"Okay Plan C." Corey sighed and looked toward Laney. "Tell Kin to head for the mouth!"

Mayor Swellow and Rick continued to judge the student's projects. A girl with glasses was showing off her experiment.

"Why smell one of your favorite foods when you can smell them all at the same time? With chemistry!"

She gestured to the spot where she had a spray bottle filled with a strange liquid but Corey had snatched it away before anyone could see.

"And you can smell all your failures at once with one of these." Mayor Swellow handed the girl a disqualification ribbon and walked away marking something on his clipboard. Rick poked the girl on her nose.

"Rick can 'sense' your pain but he 'nose' you'll do fine." He chuckled. "Puns."

Jackie turned on a fan while Corey sprayed into it. The spray blew to where Tracy and Macy were. Macy sniffed the air.

"Tracy? Do you smell that?" she sniffed again. "Fried chicken! Popcorn! Mm…my mouth is starting to salivate…"

Sure enough, Tracy could smell it too and felt something going on in the inside of her mouth. Kon had a bathing suit on and was ready to dive onto Tracy's tongue.

"Look out saliva pool! Here I come!"

The fat drummer took a dive but instead of splashing in a drool pool, he crashed on a dried out tongue.

"Drooling is for farmers!" Tracy told her friend. "With retainers!"

Laney looked at her phone.

"Kin says your fan thingy didn't work! Jacks, your sister's a robot!"

"And what destroys all robots?" Corey asked.

"A can opener? Buss? Dynamite?!" Laney guessed.

"Emotions fella! We gotta make Tracy cry!"

"Yeah! That's perfect!" Jackie exclaimed. "And I know just how to do it!"

"Sure I can't sell you on the dynamite idea?" Laney replied.

Kin and Kon continued to travel in the mini-sub. Kon looked around and saw something that caught his attention.

"What is that thing? A black hole?!" Kon referred to a giant black object that was pumping blood.

"No that's her heart." Kin told his twin.

"This fun dream is turning into a nightmare!" Kon shouted.

"It's not a dream bro. But you know, maybe if I cloned myself, then shrunk the clone so it'll go into Jackie's heart, she'll fall in love with me because I'll be a part of her!"

Kin sighed happily at the thought. Kon just gave him a disgusted face.

"Dude, that's the kind of thing that will never happen. Even in your dreams!"

"Whatever. At least my dreams don't involve stomach acid and sweat glands."

"So I am dreaming!" Kon gasped in horror. "Which means this is a nightmare!"

Kin facepalmed and sighed. Sometimes he wondered how he and Kon were related.

"Rick didn't know you were into science Tracy Matthews." Rick said as he leaned his arm on Tracy's Together Forever Tester. Tracy smiled and joined her crush.

"Only the most into it!" she cried.

Corey, Laney, and Jackie peeked out from behind one of the projects.

"So what's your theory Professor?" Laney asked Corey.

"Tell her Jacks!"

Jackie proceeded to tell the members of her band her idea.

"If science tells Tracy that she'll never get away from me, she'll turn on the waterworks for sure! Kin and Kon will get cried out and you guys will have lyrics for our own experiment!"

"I hope it works!" Laney said worriedly. "Kin and Kon must be terrified!"

**THEY SHOULD BE BUT THEY'RE NOT!**

The twins were in the submarine next to Tracy's eyeballs.

"I wish we could just stay here forever." Kin said kicking back. "I'm learning so much. And the stress of my normal life has flushed away. Sure Jackie's not here, but from Tracy's eyes I can get a view of her that makes her look just as beautiful."

Kin watched Jackie through Tracy's eyeballs and sighed. Kon on the other hand, wasn't as content as his brother was.

"Feels like the same old thing for like an hour!" he complained. "I'm getting bored."

Kin's fantasies of him and Jackie together turned into panicked thoughts when he heard Kon.

"Bored?!" he got out his phone and started texting Laney. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"

Laney received the text and looked horrified.

"Kin says Kon's getting bored!" she informed her manager. "Hurry!"

Jackie ran out of her hiding spot to meet Macy who was finishing setting things up.

"Hey, Macy? Is that 'Together Forever Tester' gonna say that Rick and Tracy will be together forever?"

"Dunno, it's an experiment." Macy said. "There are no guarantees! That's science!"

"But, if Tracy doesn't get the result she wants, is she gonna yell at science…or at you?" Jackie poked Macy on the nose.

"But uh…there's like an 80 percent chance that they'll be together forever."

"Which still leaves a 90 percent chance of 'Macy this is all your fault'!"

"It's only a 20 percent chance-"

"If I were you, I'd just make the machine read 'Together Forever' no matter what!" Jackie told the girl in glasses. "Unless you want Tracy to be disappointed!"

Macy gasped at the thought and quickly started making adjustments to the machine.

Mayor Swellow came up to Tracy and her project.

"The science of destiny, huh?" he asked skeptically holding a disqualification ribbon. "Well, let's hope this ain't your ribbon of destiny! Boom-shaka-laka!"

Tracy ignored the mayor's joke and started to explain her project.

"This machine can predict how long a couple will last from 'not ever' to 'forever ever'! Observe. Rick?"

Tracy and Rick both put their hands on the two handles and the machine started to calculate. After a few seconds, the lights on the machine reached the top and Tracy beamed.

"I knew it! We're meant to be together! Totes forever!"

But Tracy's excitement ended when she heard another voice.

"I'm not sure I wanna share the garage that long."

Tracy looked in front of her and saw that Jackie was the one holding the other handle.

"This machine thinks family should be together forever." Rick smiled. "Rick digs that."

As he and the mayor walked away, Jackie gave Tracy a winning smile.

"What?!" Tracy started to turn red. "No fair Jackie! You blinded me! WITH SCIENCE!"

Tracy shot up into the air surrounded by beakers and test tubes. She grabbed her diary and wrote inside of it. All of the volcanos in the gym erupted as Tracy angrily made flames appear inside her diary. She held up her flaming pen and fell onto the stage when it burned out. When she landed, she clutched her diary to her chest as tears fell from her eyes. One tear had Kin and Kon inside and when they landed, they returned to normal size. When the submarine grew, it knocked Tracy off the stage smacking her diary out of her hands.

"Well, no one's screaming in horror." Kin observed. "I guess we did it!"

Jackie ran up to the submarine and hugged Kin and Kon.

"Kin! Kon! I'm so glad you guys are okay!"

Kin giggled as hearts came out of him. Kon saw this.

"Now I know I'm dreaming."

Tracy fell into Mayor Swellow's arms. He gave her a glare and a disqualification ribbon. Corey caught Tracy's diary and held it up high.

"Behold the healing powers of rock!" he said.

The blue-haired boy plugged some headphones into the stereo, turned the volume up loud, and placed the headphones on Tuba Tom. Once everything was set up, the band started playing a new song.

_You tried to predict_

_What makes me tick_

_It makes me sick_

_I'm about to go atomic_

_You're partically annoying that's why_

_I wanna dissolve you like an alkali_

_You've turned all my protons into kontons_

The band's music traveled through the stereo and made its way into Tuba Tom's headphones. Kin's amazing keyboard solo created a rainbow which Tom breathed in.

_You've turned all my protons into kontons_

_Let's start a chain reaction to break this bond_

_Yeah!_

Tuba Tom breathed through his nose.

"Ahh…" he sighed with relief. "I can breathe! My cold was rocked away!"

The boy got up and left the gym while playing his tuba. Mayor Swellow came up on stage carrying a trophy.

"Jackie Matthews and her band, Grojband, win first prize!" he handed the trophy to Jackie. "And only prize! POW!"

The politician paused.

"Hm, that was way less fun than disqualifying people." He said as he walked offstage.

"I never would have dreamed we'd win this thing!" Kon said. "That must mean…I really got shrunk!"

Kin facepalmed again while Jackie laughed.

"Oh Kon, you're so funny!" then she looked down at Kin. "I never would have won this thing if it wasn't for you guys. Especially you Kin."

Kin blushed. "Me?"

"It was your shrink ray that shrunk Kon into Tracy's stomach that made us wanna get him out by making Tracy cry which gave us lyrics for a song that would prove my experiment of rock's healing powers true! And to think I wouldn't have any use for your shrink ray! But now, I'm glad you wasted your time to invent it." Jackie patted Kin on the cheek again. "Thanks Kin."

Kin smiled big and fainted from love. Laney looked over at Corey.

"Well Core, looks like music really can heal!"

"Maybe guy. But sometimes things don't need to be healed." Corey dropped the trophy as a spotlight shined over him. "Like our insides. They're gooey and gross for a reason and an inner journey might just make things worse! Forcing a dream inside could force something more important outside! And the next thing you know, you're exploding all over the gym."

The others had disgusted looks on their faces.

"I don't think I'll sleep tonight." Laney shuddered.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Leave some more suggestions for episodes you want to see in this fanfic! See you next time!**


	8. Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble

**This one is based on "Pop Goes the Bubble" which was suggested by HouseCity101 and DragonQueen103. The former also requested that Jackie sing the song Grojband performs in this chapter. I'm going to do it this time but keep in mind that I don't want Jackie to sing every song because it doesn't suit her role in the band. Basically, I want Jackie to seem like more of a guest performer who sings only when the band absolutely needs her to. She will be a part of more songs in the future, but only for certain episodes.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble**

Just another day at the Matthews' residence. Laney was practicing on her bass when Kin and Kon entered pushing something under a huge white cloth.

"Ready to have your mind blown?" Kin pulled off the cloth revealing a strange looking machine. "Ta-da!"

"Yum! It's a bubble machine!" Kon cried. "Bubbles, get in my belly!"

Kin pressed the button on the side of the machine and a storm of bubbles came out of it.

"Kay, bubbles are cool." Laney was impressed for a few seconds. "What now?"

"What do you mean 'what now'?" Kin asked rhetorically. "You pop em!"

Kon clapped his hands and giggled excitedly. Laney just made a bored expression as she popped a bubble. But once she heard the wonderful sound of a bubble popping, she couldn't resist popping more. Soon she was giggling too. Kon started catching as many bubbles in his mouth as he could while a big bubble flew toward Kin.

"Oh…" the nerdy kid gazed at the bubble and it went straight into his eye. He let out a cry of pain. "I've created a monster!"

Then all the bubbles popped when Jackie and Corey entered the garage.

"Sorry to burst your bubble guys!" Corey said. "But I booked us a gig!"

"Ahem!" Jackie gave Corey a glare.

"Oh, uh…we booked us a gig."

Jackie smiled again and showed her phone to her band.

"Voila!"

On the screen was a news report with Destiny Providence.

"Tranquil Town's sewer gas levels have reached an all-time high." She said. "The mayor would like to remind Tranquilians to stop flushing their cheese down the toilet."

"Our gig is flushing cheese?" Laney asked confused. "Who would even do that?"

Kin and Kon gave each other nervous glances because they remembered last week when they did it just to see which kind of cheese was better.

"Uh no one…" Kin mumbled.

"Yeah…it's weird…" Kon added.

"Oh, sorry." Jackie said. "We should have shown you the rest of the video."

"We're not flushing cheese!" Corey corrected Laney. "We're rocking pop!"

The news report continued. Buster Newsworthy was at the town's carnival.

"Buster Newsworthy live here at Tranquil Town's Carbo-Nation Pop Festival! Where the fairground is brimming with people ready to chug their favorite bubbles!"

The anchorman gestured to a giant bottle of soda where a crowd of people were standing and cheering.

"And how many flavors will our bubble lovers have to choose from?" Destiny asked her partner.

"It's got to be thousands!"

"I was hoping for millions Buster."

"Well good!" Buster remarked. "Cause that's what I meant Destiny!"

The news report ended and Jackie put her phone away while Corey talked.

"Pop music's our new thing! Everyone loves soda pop!"

"But pop means popular!" Laney pointed out. "We'll just be the flavor of the minute."

"Yup! Every minute needs a flavor!" Corey nodded. "And this one…will taste like us!"

Upstairs, Macy was sitting on Tracy's bed brushing the mane on Tracy's stuffed unicorn. She was until, Tracy's phone got a new message.

"MACY! DROP EVERYTHING!"

Macy did so while Tracy checked her messages on Bleater, a social networking site.

"We're going to Carbo-Nation tonight!" Tracy declared.

"But Tracy, I thought you hated bubbles?"

"Hunky Rick Salary always finds his new favorite pop flavor there!" Tracy explained. "If I'm with him when his taste buds tingle, he'll think about me every time he drinks it! Ugh! It's called psychology Macy."

"Maybe one day they'll have my favorite flavor…" Macy thought out loud. "BFF Cola."

Tracy snapped Macy out of her fantasies.

"But there will be bubbles! And what do we do about bubbles?"

"No bubbles within two Tracy lengths of Tracy!" Macy pulled out her tablet showing a diagram of Tracy and a bubble. "Ever!"

"And what happens if even one bubble touches my nose?"

Macy switched to an animation of Tracy having an allergic reaction.

"You puff up and bubbles geyser out of your whole face!"

"I mean what happens to you?"

"Oh. Uh, I get sent into the Corner of Shame." Macy answered referring to the corner of Tracy's room where a stool was sitting and a whole row of pictures of Tracy looking down angrily were on the wall.

"I would so explode from embarrassment if that happened to me in front of Rick!" Tracy cried.

"Well, why risk it by going to the Pop Festival?" Macy asked her BFF. "I mean, can't you be close to Rick another time?"

Tracy gave Macy a menacing glare.

"Sounds like some Macy wants to be sent to the Corner of Answers!"

**POP! POP! BUBBLE WIPE!**

At the festival, Rick Salary was hanging out near one of the booths when Tracy ran up to him.

"Oh hey Rick!" Tracy greeted batting her eyelashes. "So nice to unexpectedly run into you here! Find anything sweet?"

While Tracy talked to her crush, Macy got to work getting rid of any bubbles that got too close to Tracy.

"Rick's had a good year with Turbo Grape." The popular boy said. "But it's time for a new flavor."

"You'll find one." Tracy reassured him. "And you'll love me! It! You'll love it!"

Just then, Tracy heard an announcement coming from the main stage. Mayor Swellow was there wearing a soda cup costume standing next to a giant bottle of soda.

"Pop lovers and Sodanauts! Welcome to Carbo-Nation! It's time to pop the top so we can all get fizzy!"

The short man climbed a ladder to reach the top of the soda bottle.

"And to give our music a pop, it's the band that won't stop…" the mayor pointed to downstage center where Jackie and the band were. "Grojband!"

Everyone in the crowd cheered except for one.

"Jackie?!" Tracy growled. "She's gonna get her 'Jackieness' all over my plans!"

The wicked teenager glanced onstage and saw a soda bottle on a stool next to Corey.

"That's it!" she smiled evilly. "When Jackie's lame lead singer pops that bottle cap, he's gonna get the surprise of his life! MACY!"

Macy popped up next to Tracy while popping another bubble.

"Find me something that shakes."

So the girl in glasses led Tracy to a machine that shakes things rapidly and put a full soda bottle in between its hands.

"So when does this thing shake when it's not helping me?" Tracy wondered.

"Uh, I think it's a-"

"Ugh! Macy, who cares?"

When Tracy thought that the bottle had been shaken up enough, she snuck backstage and replaced Corey's soda bottle with the shaken-up one. Corey didn't notice Tracy and picked up the bottle while talking into the microphone.

"Is everyone ready to get bubbly?"

The crowd cheered as if to say 'yes'. The mayor popped open the cap to the big soda bobble but was disappointed by what he saw.

"Huh? It's not full of pop! This festival's in trouble if it ain't got no bubble!"

"You can have mine Mr. Mayor!" Corey offered.

Mayor Swellow accepted the bottle and got ready to open it.

"I love the happy hiss of bubbles!" he exclaimed as he turned his wrench on the cap.

**BLAM!**

"Breaking news from the Carbo-Nation Festival!" Buster said from the news station. "Where Mayor Swellow has taken a bottle cap to the brain!"

"Did his head completely explode?" Destiny asked the viewers. "Will your soda explode your head? Is your head exploded right now?! Tune in at six for more."

It wasn't long before the paramedics arrived and took an X-ray of the mayor's skull.

"Yup, the bottle cap has lodged right in your bubble appreciation cortex." One of the paramedics told Swellow. "It'll take about a week for the cap to work its way out the other ear. Until then, you're really gonna hate bubbles."

And sure enough he was right because when Mayor Swellow saw that he was surrounded by a sea of bubbles, he went ballistic.

"Bubbles are bad!" he shouted. "Lock down!"

The carnival gates closed and the politician guarded them.

"These bubbles ain't goin' nowhere! And everybody's stayin' here until this pop is flat!"

Rick looked down sadly.

"Rick's feeling not so fizzy."

Tracy turned to Macy.

"Oh no! We're fizzling!" she whispered. "What if Rick psychologizes me with having a fizzless time?! What do I do?!"

"You could just be yourself." Macy suggested.

"There's no time for that!" Tracy looked over at Rick. "I have to keep Rick happy!"

Jackie and Grojband watched as the giant soda cans lost all of their bubbles.

"Oh no…" Jackie said sadly as the last bubble made its way out of one of the cans and popped.

"Those poor little bubbles. Gone forever." Kin got tears in his eyes along with Kon.

"Bubble hug?" Kon embraced his twin as they both cried.

"Bubble hug!" Kin sobbed. He then opened his eyes and saw that Jackie had been watching the whole time. He quickly pushed Kon away.

"Oh, hi Jackie!" he chuckled nervously. "I wasn't crying if that's what you were thinking. Because you know, a tough guy like me can handle anything!"

"Uh…sure Kin."

Corey examined the insides of the soda cans.

"If the crowd is drinking flat soda, then their mood's gonna fizz out!" he said. "If we don't make things pop, this gig is sure to fall flat!"

"You're really on a roll with all those pop puns, huh?" Laney replied.

"I am! And that gives me an idea! Grojband, let's roll out!"

**BUBBLE SKULL TRANSITION!**

Jackie and the band followed Corey to an old sewer pipe. Corey was rolling one of the cans towards it.

"Jacks, Lanes, and I will round up all the flat pop." He told Kin. "You and Kon head back to the garage and figure out how to rebubble it!"

"Why does Jackie always go with you?" Kin whined.

"Sorry Kin. Corey said he needed as much help as he could get." Jackie explained to her friend.

"Kon and I need help too." Kin persuaded the manager. "And I know I would appreciate anything you do."

"Aww, Kin you're so sweet." Jackie put an arm around Kin causing him to smile and giggle.

"Guys? Hello?" Corey called to the twins. "We're kind of on a schedule here!"

Kin snapped back to reality and he and Kon saluted.

"Aye-aye Cap'n!" Kin pulled down Kon's arm causing his other arm to spin rapidly. The fat drummer was soon in the air. Kin grabbed on to his legs and the two flew away.

Corey moved so the two girls could enter the sewer pipe.

"Ladies first."

"Aww thanks…" Laney had hearts coming out of her at the thought of her crush doing something nice for her. But the feeling was gone once she actually stepped inside the pipe and got sewer water all over her shoe.

"Eww…thanks."

Jackie just giggled.

Kin and Kon had arrived back at Jackie's garage trying to figure out how to bring the bubbles back. A soda bottle was sitting on the coffee table as the two brothers tried to come up with ideas.

"Getting bubbles back into this soda should be easy for us!" Kon exclaimed. "We built a time machine!"

Kin glared. "Well, I built a time machine!"

"Yeah…but I was the one who laughed at you when you said you could do it! I motivated you with my delightful laughter!"

"Oh…" Kin nodded now understanding. "So when I said that Jackie would one day fall in love with me and you laughed, you were really just motivating me?"

"Uh…no. That was me actually laughing at you because Jackie will never fall in love with you." Kon pointed at Kin and laughed. Kin groaned.

"Ugh. Let's just get back to the narration already."

So the twin brothers did everything they could to bring the bubbles back to the pop. First they tried blowing bubbles into the soda. Then they tried pumping them back. They even tried blasting the soda but nothing worked and all of their attempts ended with Kin suffering and Kon laughing at him. They put the soda back on the table.

"Did it work?" Kon asked. Kin looked inside the bottle where a tiny bubble came up to the surface and popped.

"Nope."

Jackie and Laney were hard at work carrying the giant cans of soda into the sewer.

"Corey?" Jackie looked at her guitarist. "A little help?"

But Corey wasn't exactly willing to land a hand.

"I'm a bit busy pointing to that place where you girls need to put the heavy barrels."

The two of them grunted as they dropped the cans next to the other ones.

"And done!" Corey declared as he walked toward the exit. "Let's check on Kin and Kon."

The girls gave the blue-haired boy a glare.

"How did you fall in love with him?" Jackie asked the red-head.

"That's a question that I ask myself sometimes too."

Meanwhile, back at the festival, Mayor Swellow was keeping his eyes open to make sure the bubbles didn't escape. Tracy was standing in front of Rick who was drinking from a cup. Macy was concerned because Tracy's eyes were getting extremely red.

"Are you okay? Your eyes look dusty."

"I heard eye contact makes boys happy!" Tracy explained. "So if I stare long enough, Rick'll have the best time ever!"

Tracy's eyelids started to quiver so she tried to fight them.

"Must…not…blink!"

Finally Tracy couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and she had to blink. When she did, Rick looked away from her. The teenaged girl gave a nervous laugh.

"Hey Rick? You know what's the coolest? Cheering up! I mean, who needs bubbles?"

Mayor Swellow got up in Tracy's face.

"Did you say 'bubble'?!" he demanded.

"Uh…no."

The mayor didn't have time to question Tracy because he saw a little boy blowing a bubble from his bubble gum. He immediately popped the bubble and called a guard over.

"Seize him! Prison for life!" he ordered.

Jackie, Corey, and Laney met up with Kin and Kon in the garage. The two of them were currently laid out on the couch.

"All right guys!" Corey said. "Whaddya got?"

Kin and Kon gave each other nervous looks for they were both too afraid to tell their friends the bad news. Luckily, before the three of them could see the flat soda pop, something else caught their eyes.

"You built a bubble machine?" Jackie was awed. "Genius!"

"Oh…right…" Kin played along. "Ta-da!"

"Let's celebrate!" Kon pulled out a roll of bubble wrap and started popping.

Unfortunately for them, Mayor Swellow could hear the sounds from the festival.

"Bubbles!" he growled and went off in search of his new mortal enemies. He traced the popping sounds all the way to Jackie's garage but she and the band had already left by the time he got there. All that was left was a roll of popped bubble wrap. The mayor picked it up.

"You're lucky I didn't get to you first! But I'll find your brothers!" he leaned his ear in and heard more sounds coming from the sewers.

"I'm coming for you bubbles!" Mayor Swellow howled and jumped into the manhole.

**WATCH OUT BUBBLES HERE HE COMES!**

Down in the sewers, Kin's bubble machine was filling the place with bubbles. Kon was popping more bubble wrap.

"Kin, your machine is the coolest!" Jackie complimented the scientist/keyboardist.

Kin blushed. "Thanks. You like bubbles huh?"

"Like them? I love them!"

"Really? Wow, what a coincidence! I love em too! It's cool that we have something in common."

Kin pulled out a container of bubble mixture and blew a heart-shaped bubble.

"If you want, maybe we could talk about other things that we both love."

He stared at Jackie lovingly but she remained oblivious.

"Sorry Kin. We don't have time for that. We've gotta get these bubbles back into the soda!"

Jackie walked away to help the others and the heart-shaped bubble burst. Kin looked down sadly.

"So is the pop gonna get filled with stinky sewer bubbles?" Laney asked Corey.

"Maybe." Corey shrugged. "We'll only know for sure after it works when we save the gig!"

"Are there any lyrics in these bubbles we can use?"

Corey pressed his finger to Laney's lips.

"One problem at a time Lanes."

"Pop! Pop! Pop!" the mayor's voice echoed through the sewer hall. "You'd better stop!"

"Eek!" Kin and Kon yelped.

"Change of plans!" Jackie took the bubble wrap from Kon. "Let's solve all the problems at once! Mayor Swellow wants to stop the pop. Tracy has troubles with bubbles! I'll handle the mayor! You guys get Tracy above that manhole!"

Tracy was still trying to get Rick to smile. She was currently spreading lip gloss over a soda bottle she got for Rick.

"Try this one Rick! It'll taste like lip gloss! The same kind I wear on my lips." She made a kissing sound and winked at Macy. "Psychology."

Grojband found the selfish girl sucking up to the hunk.

"How do we get Tracy over the sewer hole?" Kin looked toward the others.

"Uh…catapult?" Kon guessed.

Laney facepalmed.

"Ugh! I've had enough of your clever plans!" The fiery red-head ran toward Tracy and picked her up with her bare hands.

"Whoa, now there's a girl who can lift!" Corey observed.

Mayor Swellow stormed up to Jackie who was still filling the barrels with bubbles.

"What's in the barrel Bubble Belle?"

"We put the bubbles back in the pop!" Jackie informed the bubble-hating politician. "Those people up there deserve to have some fizzy fun! And you can't stop it!"

Swellow growled as he took a step forward and accidentally popped a bubble on Kon's bubble wrap. This made him even angrier.

"If you think these bubbles pop, wait till Swellow blows his top!"

Jackie became worried that is until she heard Tracy screaming above her.

"What are you doing?!" Tracy shouted as Laney carried her to the manhole. "Let me go!"

This was enough to make Jackie regain her confidence.

"The bubbles are right here!" she encouraged the mayor. "Come get em!"

Swellow charged toward the brunette with a loud war cry. However, he realized that when he ran, he popped more bubbles on the bubble wrap. He tried to screech to a halt but the surface was too slippery and he lost his balance.

"Bubbles! Bubbles? Bubbles?! BUBBLES!"

Jackie ran out of the way as Mayor Swellow crashed into one of the barrels, blasting soda out of the manhole. Tracy screamed as the fountain of pop shot her up into the air and bubbles surrounded her.

"Oh no! Bubbles!" She sneezed causing more bubbles to come out of her nose. Tracy gasped when she saw that her allergy was starting to kick in.

"Uh-oh…" Macy muttered to herself as Rick walked away.

"Maybe Rick will stick with lemonade this summer."

"No! Rick! I'm the sweetest!" Tracy called as more bubbles flowed out her nostrils. "OM PSYCHOLO-G!"

The teen shot up into the air surrounded by bubbles. She angrily started writing in her diary and when she did, all of the caps on the soda bottles came off blasting soda into the air. When Tracy finished writing, she returned to normal. Jackie came out of the sewers as Corey caught the diary.

"What about the bubbles?!" Laney said panicky.

"They're gone." Corey answered. "But we don't need the fizz to bring the pop!"

The crowd screamed excitedly as Jackie and the band made their way on stage.

"Hey Tranquil Town!" Corey said into the microphone. "Let's get down to fizzness! Jacks! You mind helping us out with this one?"

"No problem Core!" Jackie grabbed her own mic and the band started playing.

_Corey: They make their sad sounds_

_And you see their frowns_

_When your bubble wants to rise they try to bring you down_

_Oh-oh!_

_All: Na, na, na, na, na, na, na!_

_Na, na, na, na, na, na, na!_

_Corey: No nothing's here to stay_

_They say it always fades away_

_Jackie: But if we're the latest craze_

_I wanna be everyone's favorite flave_

_Corey &amp; Jackie: This bubble don't pop_

_This party won't stop_

_Corey: If they wanna come shut it down_

_They'd better call the cops_

_Jackie: This bubble just don't pop_

_All: Na, na, na, na, na, na, na!_

_Na, na, na, na!_

By the time the song ended, Macy had led a miserable Tracy out of the crowd and Mayor Swellow finished dancing to the music. Suddenly, he heard a rattle in his head and the bottle cap fell out of his ear.

"Ahh…much better!" he heard another rattle and another bottle cap came out. "Huh? Where'd that one come from?"

As the band packed up their instruments, Swellow came up to them.

"Sorry for chasing you down while trying to lock you up! It was the bottle cap talkin'!" he pointed to his head. "You guys really gave this festival some flavor!"

"Thanks Mayor Swellow." Corey said. "But we're done with pop music."

A spotlight appeared over the young rocker.

"Sure it can shoot right into your ear and get stuck in your brain, but before you know it, the fizz is gone and it gets pushed out by the next sweet flavor. Grojband wants to be the taste people remember. Like karate pizza!"

Laney, Kin, and Kon each opened a bottle of soda and clinked their glasses together.

"To Grojband!" Kon cheered as he and the others each took a sip.

"Uh…guys?" Jackie tried to warn them but they figured it out for themselves.

"Is this the sewer pop?" Kin asked.

"It would appear so." Kon nodded.

"Puke on three?" Laney suggested and they all did.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Achievement unlocked: find a way to break the fourth wall in a fanfiction. Ha, ha, yeah as you can see I'm trying to take the elements from the show and turn them into writing. There'll be plenty more of those elements as the story goes on. For now, leave some more suggestions for episodes!**


	9. The Birds and the Queen Bees

**I am on a role with these! This chapter is based on "Queen Bee" which was requested by Missymysto and AvrilLavigneFan2001. Hope you like it!**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**The Birds and the Queen Bees**

Kon was sitting on the couch blindfolded while Kin dug underneath the couch. The two were about to show Jackie and Laney a trick that Kon could do. Kin pulled out an old potato chip and held it toward Kon's face. Kon sniffed it.

"Notes of sour cream…" Kon opened his mouth and Kin dropped the chip in his mouth. "Onion…lint…4 Saturdays ago. An excellent week for potato chips."

The girls were both weirded out.

"I really wanna be disgusted by this…" Laney began. "But, it's kind of fascinating!"

"I know!" Jackie agreed. "It's like the doomsday algorithm but with snack foods!"

Corey ran into the garage carrying a flyer.

"Guys! Look what I found in Jackie's room!" he held up the piece of paper.

Jackie gasped and quickly snatched it out of his hands.

"Well, what is it?" Laney asked.

"Oh! It's nothing!" Jackie hid the flyer behind her back. "It's just an ad promoting some lame event. No big deal."

"What do you mean lame?" Corey continued. "There's nothing lame about it! It's Tranquil Town's Annual Pollination Nation Pageant! It's playing this weekend and Grojband is gonna rock the coronation of the new Queen Bee!"

Kin gave the beanie-wearing boy a look of uncertainty.

"Core, a gig's a gig…but a pageant is…"

Laney stood up.

"Poofy! Dainty! Frilly! Fancy-pantsy! Clicky-shoesy! Creepy-smiley! RIDICULOUS! In short…I think they're strange."

Jackie sighed. "I knew you guys would hate me once you found out…"

"Found out what?" Kin questioned his manager.

"Well…the thing is…I used to be in that pageant!"

She led the band members over to a shelf with a line of trophies and pictures of her wearing a frilly dress.

"My parents entered me every year and I won every single time. There was no honey bee cuter than me. I didn't want you guys to find out about it because believe it or not…I actually loved being in that pageant! I loved the outfits, the competition, and the non-stop attention!" Jackie sighed. "To me it was something to look forward to every year. There! I said it! You guys can go ahead and laugh and lose all your respect for me."

"Why would we do that?" Laney asked.

"Because you just told me that they were ridiculous."

Laney pulled Jackie aside and whispered to her.

"Well, the truth is…the reason I think that is because…I entered a few pageants in my life too…"

Jackie was shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah. And I'll admit they were fun at first, but after a while it just got boring so I guess I grew out of it. I think they're weird now and I probably would never wanna be in one ever again. But don't worry, in no way do I think you're weird for liking them. None of us do."

Jackie smiled. "Thanks Laney. I'm so glad to have someone like you around."

The two of them did a special handshake before shouting: "Girl power!" They then walked back over to where the boys were.

"What were you two talking about?" Corey asked the two.

"Oh…just girl stuff…" Jackie laughed nervously. "So, what were you saying before Corey?"

"Oh yeah! Guys, this town has like fifty pageants and junk a year! If we nail this crowning achievement, we'll be the go-to pageant band with a gig every week! And it all starts with our first ever coronation song!"

Laney folded her arms. "Do you have lyrics for that first ever coronation song?"

"Not yet! All we have to do is make Tracy happy with some girl junk!" Corey explained. "She writes something sweet and sappy in her diary, and we're honey golden!"

"Wait, Tracy can write in her diary from being happy?" Jackie was dumbfounded.

"If she's exactly like Trina, then she can write from any burst of emotion she feels!"

"Oh yeah! Good point!"

"Did you say 'make Tracy happy'?" Laney said. "That doesn't happen!"

Corey just smiled and opened the door to the inside of Jackie's house. He folded the flyer into a paper airplane and flew it into Tracy's room.

"Ow!" Tracy cried in pain.

"Problem solved!" Corey claimed.

Tracy was sitting on her bed getting a foot massage from Macy when the airplane hit her in the eye. She growled taking the paper out of her eye and unfolding it. She read it aloud.

"The Queen Bee…" Tracy gasped and stood up. "I'm totally that already! Now I can have a real crown to prove it! Jackie's been the star of the family for too long and now I'm going to steal her spotlight!"

She showed the flyer to Macy and she read the rest of it.

"But it says the Queen Bee is the sweetest honey drop in Tranquil Town. That doesn't sound like-"

"ANYONE BUT ME?!" Tracy yelled but then calmed down. "You're right. I better not lose that pageant or I'll be wickedly unhappy for the rest of like ever!"

Jackie was listening in from outside. She ran back in the garage to inform her band.

"Guys! Tracy needs to win the pageant! It's the only way she'll get happy enough to diary up those lyrics!"

"The queen is supposed to be sweet as honey." Kin reminded her. "Your sister's more like honey garlic."

"Hold the honey." Laney added.

"Oh right…"

"You on the other hand, would be perfect." Kin gestured to the long line of trophies on the shelf in the garage. "I mean since you've already won the pageant so many times. Plus, you're sweet, beautiful, talented…you're everything anyone would want in a queen."

Kin blushed and tiny hearts surrounded him. Corey pushed Kin aside.

"Easy there Casanova. You're right about one thing Jacks. Tracy is definitely a bitter pill. So we'll just have to be her…artificial sweetener!"

The next day was the day of the pageant. A huge stage was set up in the middle of the park with a giant hive curtain, a red carpet, and a throne for the queen. Beehives were on every tree and people were gathered around the stage as Mayor Swellow floated down in a bee costume carrying a picture of his mother.

"Gentle ladies and merry men! Mother and I would like to welcome one and all to the Tranquil Town Pollination Nation Pageant!" he announced and everyone cheered.

"Now let's meet our darling little bees!"

The mayor motioned toward the hive where three adorable little girls came out waving and giggling. The crowd cooed as they made their way across the carpet.

"One of them will be crowned queen and the others will buzz off!"

Tracy came out from behind the curtain wearing a pink dress that Macy was still sewing together.

"Ugh! Macy! You totally made me miss my cue!" she complained. "How long does it take to sew a winning pageant dress from scratch?!"

Macy just smiled and gave Tracy two thumbs-up. Her fingers were covered in bandages from the sewing.

"Knock em dead Tracy!"

"That's the plan!" Tracy shoved the curly-haired nerdette off the stage and met up with the other bees.

"Aren't they larvelous?" the mayor looked toward the audience as Tracy came up fake smiling and laughing nervously.

Jackie and Grojband were in the audience and they all had bad feelings.

"Wuh-oh…" Corey muttered. He and the others ducked behind the crowd.

"The only way to get diary-filled lyrics is if Tracy wins." Jackie told her friends. "And the only way to make Tracy look sweet is to make those sweet girls look sour."

"But they're like little human sugar packets from a sequin coffee shop!" Laney pointed out.

"Great plan Jacks!" Corey put his arm on Laney. "Hands in for our unity chant!"

The five joined hands.

"Operation: Turn sweet to sour and sour to sweet so Tracy will win and write happy sappy lyrics and-"

Laney interrupted the blue-haired singer.

"Maybe just Operation: Queen Bee?"

"QUEEN BEE!" all of them but Kon shouted.

"Turn sweet to sour and sour to…" Kon paused as everyone stared at him "Uh…Queen Bee?"

**WHOOZA WHAZZA WHAT NOW?**

The band hid backstage so they could spy on Tracy. Tracy had a mean scowl on her face but her frown turned upside down when she saw the competition.

"So, hi and everything." She greeted the girls. "Isn't it fab that we're competing against each other? I'm all super authentically curious to know what your special talents are and junk!"

The girl with red hair showed the selfish teenager a flute.

"I conduct a choir of bees using this special-"

"Yeah, that's great or whatever." Tracy said carelessly but then smiled again. "You wanna know what my special talent is?"

The three girls shook with fear.

"CRUSHING DREAMS!" Tracy shouted scaring the adorable little bees away.

Jackie and Grojband stepped back outside to regroup.

"Wow Jacks, your sister scared away all the competition!" Laney said. "She's like the storm cloud at the end of the rainbow!"

"With a silver lining Lanes!" Corey added brightly. "No competition means Tracy will win for sure! We're minutes away from diary time!"

Just them, Mayor Swellow flew up to them with the picture of his mother.

"Pack up and head home kids!" he told the band. "Pageant's cancelled! Mother says we can't have a competition with just one girl! No sport!"

With that, the short politician flew away leaving Corey in a panic.

"Guys! We didn't just lose one gig! We lost fifty gigs! There's only one thing left to do." He looked toward Jackie and Laney. "Which one of you wants to go up against Tracy?"

Jackie shook her head. "Sorry Core. As you already know, I'm wild about pageants, but I've gotta help you guys set up. I'm your manager, remember? Plus, there's no way I'm going to purposely lose to my own sister! She'd never let me hear the end of it!"

Laney knew that it was up to her to save her band's gig.

"Get me a dress." She told the others. "I'm going in."

"What? But Laney, I thought you hated beauty pageants?" Jackie reminded her.

"I do. But I hate losing a gig even more. Even if it's for something ridiculous like this. You mind helping me freshen up? You are the expert at these sorts of things!"

"You got it girlfriend!"

**THAT DUDE'S GONNA WEAR A DRESS!**

Jackie took Laney backstage and helped her with her hair and makeup. The boys watched along with Mayor Swellow.

"Looks like we'll have a bee-yootiful morning after all!" he said as he flew away.

At that moment, Jackie had finished with Laney and moved so the boys could see. Kin and Kon gasped and Corey went wide-eyed. Laney's hair was up in buns and she had a flower headband on. Her dress was black and green and she had green earrings to match.

"Our little sweetie is blossoming like…" Kon thought for a second. "Uh…I don't know any flower names!"

Kin grabbed on to his twin as tears formed in his eyes.

"I think I'm gonna cry."

Laney glared at the two and shook her fist.

"I know you will if I get called a 'little sweetie' again!"

Corey got a good look at his bassist.

"I gotta admit you make a cute girl." Laney smiled until Corey gave her a light punch on the shoulder. "Bro! Just remember, to make Tracy look good, you gotta take a dive!"

Macy was busy doing Tracy's makeup when Tracy found out who she was up against.

"There's no way some dude from Jackie's band is sweeter than me!" she smacked a brush out of Macy's hands, sprayed some water in her mouth and spat it out to her left.

"Uh, the spit bucket thing is on the other side actually." Macy told her. "That was my purse."

"Now you know where to put the bucket."

Later, the first event was about to begin. Laney and Tracy were sitting on stage, each with an empty cup and their own bee. Mayor Swellow floated through the air to present them.

"It's time for our first competition!" he said. "Honey is to bees as cows are to cheese! So get that nectar for me please! Come on ladies, milk them bees!"

Tracy looked over at Laney and glared.

"You're going down!" she growled.

"That's the plan." Laney mumbled to herself.

Tracy immediately started making a grab for her bee but it protected itself with its stinger. Laney looked at her bee and smiled.

"It's okay little bee. I just need a bit. I'm not trying to win."

She held out her finger and the bee landed on it gently.

Tracy caught the bee in her hands but it broke free by stinging her.

"Yow!" she yelped. "This lack of lactation or whatever is so not acceptable!"

The raging teen grabbed the bee with her fist.

"I want bee milk NOW!"

Mayor Swellow was holding a stopwatch.

"And…time's up!" he said. "Let's see how we did!"

Swellow floated over to Tracy first and was surprised by her results. Tracy's bee was drained and exhausted but her cup was full.

"Look what we have here! Your cup nearly runneth over!" the mayor took a sip from the cup but spat it out after he tasted the honey inside of it. "That there is some nasty nectad! Something or someone must have made that bee bitter!"

Corey, Kin, and Kon were watching from the audience while Jackie had left to get everything set up. The three of them glanced at each other as Swellow floated to where Laney was sitting. He picked up and examined her glass.

"Hmm…kinda light." He took a sip and smiled. "But the taste is heavy! We'll take quality over quantity! First round goes to this sweet little lady!"

Laney looked over at Corey and shrugged. The mayor continued.

"Bees get busy, now it's time to get dizzy! Riding mechanical bees, yes please!"

Laney and Tracy got onto mechanical bees and grabbed onto the antennas to stay on. The bees rocked back and forth trying to get the girls off.

"I can't seem to hold on to this crazy bee any longer!" Laney pretended to be scared and jumped off.

When Tracy saw that the red-haired girl had finally quit she jumped off of her bee.

"Yeah!" she started dancing. "Cause I nailed it! You failed it! I won it! Etcetera! And so on! And furthermore! And likewise!"

Laney gave Corey a thumbs-up and he and the twins smiled. Just then, Mayor Swellow flew onstage blowing a whistle and threw a yellow flag on the ground.

"Penalty!" he said. "Watching a queen gloat won't float my boat! Points awarded to the girl who fell off right away! For niceness!"

Tracy turned red and scowled angrily. Corey came onstage and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Just one more event dude!" he comforted her. "Throw this one and Tracy will bliss out and we can rock this joint!"

"I'll do my worst!" Laney reassured him.

"A Queen Bee can find the sweetness anywhere!" Mayor Swellow explained. "Whack the candy bees out of these beehive piñatas!"

Tracy and Laney were both holding sticks and had blindfolds on.

"You're so not pageant material!" Tracy insulted Laney.

"Oh no…" Laney said sarcastically. "Is it too late to be more fake and creepy?"

Tracy swung her stick around angrily.

"Why…don't…you…just…quit…and…go…back…to…thinking that color looks good on you!"

"I'm trying to quit!" Laney explained while swinging her stick. "But you're...making it…...hard for me to…lose!"

"Don't you…have to…go like…practice…with my…grody little sister?!" Tracy kept swinging. "Or has Fromojband stopped squeezing…dots into…microphones?!"

Laney turned around with anger in her covered eyes.

"What?!"

Tracy gave her an evil smile.

"What part of 'your band stinks' didn't I say?"

That was what did it for the fiery red-head. Laney let out an angry yell and jumped into the air with her stick.

"BATTLE CRY!"

Laney's beehive was soon sliced open and all of the candy bees fell out. Corey and the twins let out horrified gasps as Jackie met up with them.

"Hey guys! Everything's all set! So, how's the competition going?"

The brunette gasped too when she saw that Laney had beaten Tracy. Laney removed her blindfold to face her manager.

"Sorry Jacks!" she said. "She dissed the band! Nobody disses the band!"

Tracy still had her blindfold on and was ready to attack her beehive.

"I will not lose this thing…I JUST HEARD ABOUT YESTERDAY!"

Tracy swung her stick multiple times causing an explosion. She removed her blindfold but was shocked to see that the beehive was untouched. The stage on the other hand was a different story. Mayor Swellow flew down to where Tracy was.

"Little lady? A Queen Bee you not be!" he turned back to Laney and lifted her arm in the air. "I present your Queen Bee: the one who didn't bruise my ribs!"

The crowd cheered as Laney looked back at her band mates. All of them were smiling despite the fact that she had failed them.

"Sorry guys." She looked down nervously.

"It's okay man." Corey pulled Kin, Kon, and Jackie in. "You stood up for the band. Classic Lanes."

"Looks like you and I are both Queen Bees forever!" Jackie held out her hand and she and Laney did their special handshake.

Tracy meanwhile, was throwing a huge tantrum over losing. She threw her stick and her beehive piñata on the ground.

"I should be queen!" she screamed while kicking one of the beehives on stage open. When this happened, the bees inside the hive started to attack Tracy.

"Ugh! Stop trying to stop me or whatever!" Tracy commanded them.

Macy shoved Tracy out of the way to save her.

"Here! Let them sting me!"

"Hmm…" Jackie thought for a second and beamed. "Guys! Tracy's almost in a diary meltdown! We can't make her happy but we can make her something!"

"Yeah!" Corey cheered. "More bees!"

The three boys each grabbed a beehive from one of the trees and shook them up releasing more angry bees near Tracy. Macy was running on stage screaming while Tracy used her stick to fight the bees off.

"Not now Mother!" Mayor Swellow said to his picture frame. "We can argue about whose mistake it was to use real beehives later!"

The bees swarmed over the mayor and carried him off. The audience ran away as the bees blocked out the sun swarming around Tracy.

"Like stop for serious!" Tracy ordered. "Obey me! I…am…your…QUEEN!"

The girl shot up into the air surrounded by bees and grabbed her diary. All of the hives on the trees were shooting out fire as Tracy wrote the usual flames across her diary pages. When she finished, the bees lowered her to the ground. Her stick now had a hive on top of it so it almost looked like a queen's scepter. Corey caught the diary and Mayor Swellow came back onto the stage.

"I'd like to announce a last minute change in the rules!" he got onto his knees and bowed to Tracy. "A girl who commands the bees brings us all to our knees! All hail Queen Tracy!"

The crowd cheered as the mayor flew up to the band members who were taking their places on their own stage Jackie had set up for them.

"You're up boys!"

Laney started the song with her violin.

_Look and see_

_It's the beautiful Queen Bee_

_We've known it all along_

_We can feel it in our bones_

_With a wave of her hand she commands all her drones_

_Look and see_

_It's the stunning Queen Bee_

_We can see it in her eyes_

_She's a queen for goodness sakes_

_She looks as sweet as honey but underneath it's creepy fake_

_She's the one, the only Queen Bee_

The bees shaped themselves into a crown and a robe for Tracy. Macy bowed as the teenager blew kisses and sat on her throne.

"The office of Queen Bee carries with it very important duties!" the mayor announced.

Kon giggled. "Doodies!"

"No thanks." Tracy stood up from the throne. "Sounds kinda lame. I do the winning. My drone will do the laming."

With that said, Tracy handed the scepter to Macy and the bees made a crown and robe for her. Macy smiled full of pride.

"I've always dreamed of this moment." She said.

**BUZZY BUZZ TRANSITION!**

The band had just finished packing up their instruments. Laney was back in her old clothes and had her old hair style. Mayor Swellow entered still in his bee costume.

"You boys put on quite a show!" he patted Laney on the back. "I got a whole list of peachy festivals we need a band for!"

"Sorry Mr. Mayor, but this just isn't our thing." Corey began his monologue as a spotlight shined over him. "We're not about a crown. When you lift someone up, they can only let you down."

A bee flew over and landed on Corey's finger.

"Grojband is about the people." He continued. "Not about a queen who flies above who we're forced to love. We'd rather vote."

The blue-haired boy let the bee go as the spotlight disappeared.

"You're right Mother." Swellow said to his picture. "He is a few bees short of a hive."

Jackie whispered to Kon when the mayor left.

"Says the man who talks to a picture of his deceased mother!"

Kon laughed and high-fived Jackie.

"Core!" Laney whined. "We could have used that an hour ago! I wouldn't have had to put on a dress!"

"Well you'll never have to wear one again fella!"

Laney frowned as her dream of one day marrying Corey crumbled to the ground. Jackie saw how upset she was and put a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll notice someday." She smiled. "They always do."

Laney looked up at her and smiled back. Kin was listening in with Kon.

"If that's true, do you think one day Jackie will notice how I feel about her?" Kin asked his brother.

"Oh she'll notice!" Kon remarked. "She just won't love you!"

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**I already have the next two chapters planned out but leave your suggestions for what episode you want to see anyway and I'll fit in later. Hopefully I'll get another one done tomorrow. See you then!**


	10. Take the Cake

**Well, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! This has definitely been my favorite chapter to write so far. Why? Because of all the shippings! That's right, it's "All You Need is Cake" which was requested by a guest reviewer. Hope it satisfies all your Corney and Jackin needs!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Take the Cake**

Just an ordinary Wednesday afternoon in the garage. The members of Grojband were lying around bored out of their wits. Laney was sitting on Tracy's car, Kon was laid out on the couch, Kin was on the coffee table, and Corey sat on their rehearsal stage. They were all taking turns sighing.

Jackie came in the garage having just returned from school and greeted her band.

"Hey guys. What's up?"

But they just sighed in reply as if they didn't see her. Jackie put her backpack down.

"Aw, c'mon guys. Why the long faces?"

Corey leaned his head over the stage.

"My brain feels like…" he made a raspberry sound.

Jackie smiled picking up the remote control. "I know what'll cheer you guys up! Check out this news report!"

The brown-haired manager switched on the TV to the news.

"And now for 'What Dat?' with Buster Newsworthy." Destiny introduced her partner.

"Thank you Destiny Providence!" Buster was standing next to a giant sized cake outside. "Dat would be the tallest cake in all of Tranquil Town!"

"What dat?!" all four of the band members cried.

"One hundred stories of flaky bakey sugar cakey! Mm-hm!"

Laney scoffed. "If the cake was really that tall, we'd be able to see it from-"

Jackie opened the garage and sure enough, the cake could be seen from miles away.

"Cake…" Kin and Kon drooled.

"Friends!" Corey announced. "I vow to you this day that we will eat that cake!"

"To those who would eat that cake…" Buster continued.

"He's talking about us!" Kon pointed to the TV.

"…you can forget it!"

"Aww…" the five moaned.

"Unless you're invited to the wedding of Bake Billy's daughter, Billina Billney!"

"Guys, there's only one way we're gonna eat that cake!" Corey declared.

**EAT THAT CAKE TRANSITION!**

Jackie and her band made their way to Billy's Bake Barn where construction workers were decorating the giant cake. Kin and Kon continued drooling.

"I gotta say…" Kin said. "There's nothing in this world that I love more than cake! Well, almost nothing…"

The keyboardist had his eyes on his manager who was marking something on her clipboard. Suddenly, Kon jumped in front of Kin.

"Like me! You love me don't you?"

"Kon! Get out of the way!" Kin scolded. "You're blocking my view of Jackie!"

He shoved his twin brother away and continued staring at Jackie. She and the others were talking with Billy.

"So Cake Billy, heard you were looking for a wedding band."

"You know it Jackie! I need a band for my daughter's wedding. She's the sweetest little bride in Tranquil Town!" Billy referred to the blonde woman yelling at one of the construction workers.

"I want more heart-shaped sequins molded into kissing puppies with hearts for eyes that say 'I ruv you'!" Billina demanded. "And then sneeze butterflies!"

"She sure is crazy! About love." Billy explained. "I need some really lovey songs for this wedding, or I don't know what she'll do!"

"We're all about the cake-uh, love!" Corey quickly corrected himself.

"Yeah Billy. We can totally do love songs for your daughter's wedding!" Jackie nodded.

Just then, Tracy came up to the group with Macy. She was wearing a dark green hoodie and her eye shadow was dripping on her face as if she had been crying.

"Jackie? Sing a love song?" Tracy said in disbelief. "Scoff! She's never been in love and totally knows nothing about it! And neither does her band!"

Billina came running up to her father.

"Daddy!" she whined. "Only love wuvers can sing in my wedding!"

Billy put a hand on Jackie's shoulder.

"Sorry Jackie." He sighed. "If love ain't in your heart, it ain't comin' out of your head. We'll find another band."

He and his daughter walked off and Jackie glared at her sister.

"Why did you ruin our gig?!"

Tracy got up in Jackie's face.

"If I can't have love, no one can!" Tracy sobbed. "I used to be in max love with my sweater, Pinkredible! But now I'm into hoodies, and Pinkredible wouldn't change for me! So there's no way you're gonna have something you love when love just did me wrong!"

Tracy pulled up the hood on her hoodie.

"MACY! CUPCAKE!"

Macy zipped over carrying a box of cupcakes and put one in Tracy's mouth.

"Uh…" Jackie awkwardly slipped away from the two friends. Tracy started to cry.

"Tastes like sad…" she sniffled.

Billy was icing the wedding cake when Jackie and the gang interrupted him.

"Billy! Please!" Jackie begged. "You have to give us another chance!"

"Yeah, I can totally crush…uh…cuddle a love song!" Corey explained. "I'm madly in love with cake! I mean-with…uh…"

Laney beamed. She realized that this was the perfect opportunity to make Corey fall in love with her. She embraced the band leader and smiled.

"Me!" she exclaimed. "Corey's in love with me!"

Kin saw what Laney was doing and got an idea of his own. He ran up to Jackie and hugged her.

"Yeah, and not only that, Jackie is crazy about me! Aren't you Jackie?"

Corey and Jackie glanced at each other.

"Whaaaaaaa…." They said in unison. Laney and Kin nodded and smiled. The manager and guitarist looked over at Kon who was smiling and nodding too hinting at them to do it for the cake.

"Whaaaa…hoo!" Corey finished. "Yep! That's what love makes me yell!"

Jackie nodded. "Yeah, we're totally in love!"

"Okay." Billy decided. "But if you wanna play this wedding, you'd better be so in love that it makes me puke!"

"We'll all puke!" Corey promised.

**FAKE LOVE EQUALS CAKE!**

Soon Corey, Laney, Jackie, and Kin were in the park having a picnic for their first date.

"We've only got a few hours to make you two fall in love." Laney reminded Corey and Jackie.

"For fakesies!" Corey reminded Laney back. "To eat cakesies!"

"Yeah, Kin. We are just doing this for the cake right?" Jackie questioned. "Because, I know I'm just doing it for the cake."

"Oh…yeah…" Kin looked down, sad that Jackie wasn't interested in him. Laney was disappointed as well.

"Total false love…" Laney nodded. "But, we need to know how to do in-love stuff so you know how it feels! For others…"

"And picnics are more lovely than all-you-can-eat cheese fries…because…?" Corey asked.

Laney didn't respond because she was too busy batting her eyelashes at the blue-haired boy. She and Kin both had hearts in their eyes.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Corey looked at Laney concerned.

Jackie put her finger on one of the lenses on Kin's glasses.

"Kin, I think you may need to clean your glasses."

Suddenly, Kon popped out of the picnic basket.

"You got bugs in your eyes or something?" he asked the two. "You should wash em before they get infected and filled with pus!"

The fat drummer pulled out two bottles of seltzer and sprayed them in Laney and Kin's eyes. This caused Laney's eye makeup to drip and Kin's glasses to fog up. Kon laughed as they turned red with anger.

"BEAT IT SO THEY CAN LOVE US!" they shouted together. Corey and Jackie stared at them confused and they laughed nervously.

"So we can fool Billy…" Laney began.

"And cake can happen!" Kin finished.

"Now we're talking romance!" Kon exclaimed.

Later, the two couples went to the ice cream parlor to share milkshakes.

Corey and Laney were at their own table. Corey sipped the giant shake while Laney stared at him lovingly.

"Sharing a milkshake is super cute." She said.

"But I wanted banana!" Corey complained.

"Chocolate is cuter."

Kin and Jackie were sitting in the booth behind them. Kin was drinking from his straw while also staring at his crush. Jackie looked up at the giant shake and then back at Kin.

"Kin? I don't know if I can drink all of this."

"Don't worry." Kin pointed Jackie's straw toward her. "That's why I'm helping."

"Bubble time!" the four teens heard from above them. Kon put a straw into each of their milkshakes and blew bubbles into them. Soon they were all covered with melted chocolate ice cream.

"You guys are adorbs!" Kon laughed.

Corey and Jackie laughed too while Laney and Kin growled.

Next the four took a walk on the beach bare-footed. Laney and Kin were making goo-goo eyes at their crushes. Corey and Jackie exchanged awkward faces. Then Corey puckered up his cheeks and made a raspberry sound. He and Jackie laughed.

Laney started to splash Corey with water. He laughed and splashed her back. Soon all of them were laughing and having fun together that is, until they spotted a shark fin in the water.

"SHARK ATTACK!" Kon cried as he came out of the water wearing a fin hat and getting Kin and Laney all wet. The two both gave him angry glares while Kon smiled nervously. He handed Kin another fin hat.

"I got one for you too bro."

But Kin crushed it with his fist and threw it toward the ground. He and Laney proceeded to bury Kon in the sand. When they finished, they left with Corey and Jackie. Kon screamed in horror when he saw a cast of crabs coming toward him.

The two fake couples made their way to the carnival to ride the tunnel of love. Laney snuggled into Corey and sighed happily.

"When you're in love even doing nothing at all is wonderful." She said.

Corey shrugged. "I dunno. Feels more boring than-"

Laney put a hand over his mouth and shushed him.

"Wonderful!"

Kin and Jackie were riding behind them. Kin had his arms around Jackie's waist while Jackie was looking bored.

"Kin, this is boring. And I thought you hated rides like these."

"Maybe." Kin said. "But there's something that I do like. And that's'-"

"BUMPER SWANS!"

The two swan boats were suddenly rammed into each other by a gray swan with a lightning bolt across its wing which was controlled by Kon.

"C'mon Lanes!" Corey said to his bassist. "We gotta catch him!"

"Not romantic Core!"

"We'd be ramming into him together!" Corey pointed out.

Jackie giggled.

"You'd better watch out Kon! We're coming to get you!"

Kin stood up from the crash.

"No we're not! We're getting out of here!"

"Aw, c'mon Kin! I thought you liked playing rough with your brother!"

"Trust me, I'm about to get really rough with him…"

"You're not chasing me." Kon said disappointed. "Did I break your legs when I rammed you?"

Laney folded her arms.

"Core, can you ask your drummer to leave us alone?"

"Yeah Jackie!" Kin agreed. "Tell this complete stranger to find his own date to ruin!"

"What? Dude I'm your brother!" Kon shouted then looked at Laney. "And you ask me to leave you alone!"

"STOP RUINING THIS FOR ME!" Laney and Kin screamed.

Jackie pushed her boat toward Kon and Corey did the same.

"Uh, Kon?" Jackie asked. "Can you...?"

"Ram you again? Put flames on your butt? Be awesome buds?" Kon guessed.

"Leave us alone…" Corey sighed.

Kon's smile disappeared at those words.

"Yeah…" he said. "No problem…"

He started to pedal his swan backwards and out of the tunnel. Kin and Laney went back to hugging their true loves.

Meanwhile, Tracy was also riding the Tunnel of Love with Macy.

"Why don't you compliment my hair?" she asked.

"Uh…your hair is so great Tracy!" Macy giggled. "It's like all highlights!"

"I'm talking to my new hoodie Macy!" Tracy replied. "Pinkredible totally complimented my hair! This hoodie hides it…"

"Well maybe a sweater can't take the place of a best friend." Macy pointed out.

But Tracy wasn't listening.

"I probably just need time to bond with my new hoodie. MACY! PRIVACY!"

Macy plugged her nose and jumped out of the pink swan she was riding with her friend landing in the water.

**WICKED SAD TRANSITION!**

The four lovers finally arrived back home at their garage. They were holding hands and laughing. Kon was sitting on the couch for he had been waiting for them.

"Well, well, well!" he greeted them rudely. "Look who finally decided to come home! And without flowers!"

Laney put a hand on Kon's back.

"Look Kon, we just needed some time to learn what love is so we can fool Billy and his crazy daughter." She explained.

"And so we can nail our super romantic quartet!" Kin added.

"Quartet?!" Kon cheered. "Awesome! It's about time we did something together again!"

"No Kon. You're not in it." Kin explained. "By quartet I mean Corey, Laney, Jackie, and me."

"What?!" Kon cried. "You wanna play a gig without me?!"

Laney and Kin grabbed onto their lover's waists and hearts came out of them.

"When people are in love, they sing duets." Laney told Kon.

"And when there are two couples, they sing quartets." Kin smiled up at Jackie.

"It's uh, like a rule." Corey nodded.

"Yeah Kon." Jackie said. "You understand don't you?"

But Kon didn't understand. He was upset with all of them.

"What happened to you guys? This gig used to be about the music!"

"It was always about cake." Corey reminded him.

Kon opened the garage and stormed outside.

"Bottom line: if I'm out, I'm all the way out!"

And so the fat teen left his former bandmates. He ended up walking to the gazebo in the park and sat all by himself. He pulled out a photo album of all of the memories he shared with the others.

"We had so many happy times…" he said to himself flipping through the pages. All of the pictures that were there were from events that had happened that same day. "It feels like just yesterday. Even though it was today!"

The drummer burst into tears when he found the photo of himself crying on the park gazebo. Then Tracy shoved Kon out of his spot and sat down with photos of her own. All of her photos were of her wearing her old sweater, Pinkredible. Macy was in the pictures as well but she was mostly ignored.

"Oh Pinkredible…" Tracy sighed. "I feel so alone…"

Macy was standing next to Tracy.

"Should I make sweater noises?" she offered.

Back at the garage, the four remaining band members were sitting on stage full of regret.

"So what should we have in our quartet? Because I want-" Laney looked over at Kon's drum set and sighed. "No drums at all…"

"Anyone else know how to play the drums?" Corey asked the others. They all shook their heads.

"What's happened to us?" Jackie wondered aloud.

"I think we let something get in the way of our friendships." Laney guessed.

"True love." Laney and Kin said together.

"Fake love." Corey and Jackie said together.

"I just really wanted this gig!" Corey exclaimed.

"Me too." Jackie agreed.

"And we just really wanted…" Kin started as he and Laney stared at their crushes with hearts in their eyes.

"_Just tell him!_" Laney thought.

"_Just tell her!_" Kin thought.

The two were about to confess their feelings until they saw tears coming out of their friends' eyes. As much as they loved them, they couldn't stand seeing them upset like this.

"The gig…as well…" Laney mumbled.

"Yeah…" Kin muttered.

Just then Tracy came into the garage crying her eyes out while holding her pictures of her old sweater.

"Oh Pinkredible!" she wailed. "I can't believe I threw you away! I'm fixing my makeup and I'm getting you back!"

Tracy went to her room and Corey got an idea.

"That's it!" he stood up and faced the others "We need to get something back too! Something named Kon!"

"So what do we do?" Laney asked.

"We need lyrics about lost love! And I know just where to find some!"

Once Tracy was finished with her hair and makeup, she went outside to the trash can where she last had her old sweater.

"Okay, be cool." Tracy told herself. "You're too good for her. MACY! GARBAGE PICKING!"

Macy came out of the trash can and shook her head indicating that Pinkredible wasn't there. Tracy gasped horrifically, threw Macy out of the trash and dove in to look for herself.

"Pinkredible! Where are you?!"

Suddenly, Tracy heard voices.

"That sure is the perfect sweater for you Lanes!"

"Huh?" Tracy popped her head out from the garbage to see Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kin together. Laney was wearing Pinkredible.

"Thank you Corey!" Laney exclaimed. "I think me and this pink sweater will be together forever!"

"It is so you girl!" Jackie praised.

"Totally!" Kin nodded.

"Pinkredible…what are you doing?" Tracy whimpered.

"Looks like she's moving on." Jackie told her sister. "But you didn't want her anyway, right?"

"But-" Tracy's lip quivered and tears filled her eyes.

The sky became cloudy and Tracy was soon rained on.

"Oh Pinkredible…" she sobbed. "I never should have let you go…"

A single tear streamed down Tracy's face and she slowly slipped out of her hoodie and floated up in the air surrounded by pink sweaters. Her eye shadow dripped from her face as she started writing storm clouds in her diary. Lightning struck her hoodie which set it on fire and it disintegrated. When Tracy finished writing, she held her pen upside-down and tear drops fell from the tip of it. Afterwards, she fell back into the trash can.

Laney had taken off Pinkredible and Tracy's diary fell down to earth. It hit Kin on the head and bounced into Corey's hands.

"Got it!"

"Whoa…sadness diary mode!" Jackie was awed. "That's new!"

"Let's hit that wedding!" Corey ordered.

"Goodbye itchy sweater!" Laney tossed Pinkredible back in the trash and followed the others.

Tracy gasped when she saw that Pinkredible was back in her arms.

"You're my best friend Pinkredible!"

"I wish I was 25 percent polyester…" Macy grumbled to herself.

That night at the Cake Barn, the guests were arriving for the wedding. Kon showed up after he received a text from Corey.

"At least show up for some cake?" he read. "What a jerk! Wonder when we eat it."

The other band members were talking with Billy while holding hands.

"Okay, make me puke from love!" Billy demanded. "Or you ain't gettin' on that stage!"

"Well, in one day, we picnicked in the park, strolled on the beach, shared a milkshake…" Laney listed on her fingers.

"And went through the tunnel of love!" Kin added.

Billy looked at the four still not convinced. Corey continued.

"And we were so in love that we ignored our friend!"

"Which made him quit the band and get mad at us!" Jackie finished. "For no reason!"

Billy had tears coming out of his eyes after Jackie mentioned the last part. He then threw up in his own hat.

"Sounds like love to me!" he decided. "Hit the stage yous crazy kids!"

"Yes!" the friends high-fived and ran onto the stage. Corey talked into a microphone.

"This one goes out to a very special person."

Billina stood in the spotlight thinking that they were talking about her. However, the spotlight moved to someone else in a split second.

"My twin brother!" Kin announced in his own microphone. "Kon!"

Kon gasped when he saw the attention was now on him.

_Corey: There used to be a love between us_

_Laney: Then suddenly that love was gone_

Kon folded his arms and looked away from them still angry.

_Kin: Now everywhere I turn you're missing_

_Jackie: Like a hairless cat it feels so wrong_

_Corey: I let we be about me_

_Laney: And I let us fall apart_

_Kin: Wrong is what I know I'll always be_

_Jackie: Can we de-end and restart?_

When Kon heard these words sung, he started to cry. Billina did the same while hugging her new husband tightly.

_All: Please come back_

_Please come back_

_Corey: My life without you ain't worth jack_

_Laney: I threw you away_

_Kin: Like a pile of old stuff_

_Jackie: I'd take all the blame_

_All: But I've had enough_

_I'm nothing without you_

_Well maybe not nothing but a whole lot less_

_It's true_

Kon stood still with tears in his eyes. The others waited for him to respond and finally he smiled and hugged all of them crying.

"We'll never be apart again!" he cried happily.

Billina was still squeezing her husband.

"Now that is love!" she said as her husband exploded and turned into butterflies. "So beautiful!"

The band members smiled. They were so glad to be full again. Just then, Billy came up to them.

"Yous guys are welcome to play at any of my daughters' weddings!" he referred to three of the bridesmaids.

"Thanks Bill." Corey was holding a slice of cake while also standing in the cake. "But maybe weddings aren't our thing after all."

A spotlight appeared over him as he started to eat the cake.

"You know what they say about love." He took a bite and he started to become incomprehensible. "When you've got it on the inside, you free it to the outside. No matter how much love you have, it's never enough, and you-"

Laney popped out of the cake with a full mouth.

"Core! Those would have made the perfect lyrics!"

"I know!" Jackie said while chewing. "Why doesn't he write this stuff down?!"

Kin and Kon agreed with full mouths.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

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**Hooray for Corney and Jackie singing! Well, I'm glad I got this chapter out today because I'm going to be taking a break for a little while. For the next few days I won't have a computer with me so it will be kind of hard to get these chapters written up. Hopefully I should be back next week. See you then!**


	11. Good Vs Med-Evil

**Well, I'm back! So I know I said I would be gone for a few days but after getting a mind-blowing idea for this next chapter, I just couldn't't stay away. So I typed all of this up on my iPad. I normally would choose not to write on my iPad because it is tedious and slower than an actual computer. But I was too eager to wait another day to post this so here it is! **

**This chapter is based on "Knight to Remember" which was requested by AvrilLavigneFan2001. Hope you like it!**

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**Chapter 11**

**Good Vs. Med-Evil**

"It's Sunderday, Julaugust eleventeenth. I'm Destiny Providence."

"I'm Buster Newsworthy!" the anchorman put on a football helmet. "This is the extra day added to the Tranquil Town calendar every four years when the Bonkerton comet appears in our sky."

"Discovered by Professor Cornword Bonkerton, the comet brings with it a city wide state of wackiness where anything can happen." Destiny continued.

The news report cut to Mayor Swellow who was being interviewed about the comet.

"You order a sandwich with no pickles...BAM! Maybe the sandwich shows up with pickles on it! Maybe you walk into a closet...and BAM! Tigers! Worse than pickles!"

The cameras went back to Destiny.

"So try to remain indoors and-"

**FLASH!**

"Buster? You're wearing a baby's bonnet!"

Buster looked up at his head and chuckled.

"It was a helmet when I put it on!"

The two laughed before Buster looked back to the audience.

"Good luck everyone!"

Laney shut off the TV in the garage and shrugged.

"Meh. Bonkerton comet. Sounds lame."

"Don't say that Laney!" Jackie warned her bassist. "The comet is no joke! Every four years it wreaks havoc all over Tranquil Town! Scientists have tried to study its patterns only to have their equipment turned into elephants!"

"Look Jacks, just because crazy stuff usually happens, doesn't mean it will this time."

"Guys! How's this for crazy?" Kin said as everyone stared at him awkwardly. The boy with glasses pulled out a script. "Hm, sorry that was Corey's line."

Corey entered the garage looking excited.

"Guys! How's this for crazy?" The blue-haired singer pulled out a scroll. "I got us a gig to play for a princess!"

"A princess?" Kon exclaimed. "I call comet on that!"

"Good call Kon." Corey put away the scroll. "But the first comet flash hasn't happened yet. Who knows what it will do?"

"Ooh! Maybe it'll finally make Jackie fall madly in love with me!" Kon guessed. "Oh wait! No it won't! Because it'll never happen! Jackie isn't in love with me and she never will be!"

Kon pulled out the script.

"Oops! Sorry! That was Kin's line!"

Kin looked at his own script and read through it.

"Hey! That's not in here!" He pointed at his brother. "You made that up!"

"Well it's true! She's never gonna love you dude."

"How do you know?" Kin glanced at Jackie who was watching the comet with the others and then back at Kon. "I bet that by the end of the day, Jackie will be in love with me!"

Kon scoffed. "Yeah right. How much?"

"Ten bucks."

The two brothers shook hands.

"Deal!" Kon said. "This is gonna be the easiest bet I ever won!"

Meanwhile, Tracy and Macy were in Tracy's room having a BFF session. Tracy was using a laser pointer to point at a picture of her crush.

"Today we giddily discuss Rick Salary's hair and jacket." she informed Macy. "Then we shop for purses! I will buy a new one. You will buy my old one. Second-hand!"

Tracy handed Macy her old purse which was dirty and one of the straps was falling off.

"But it's Comet Day!" Macy held up a princess hat. "And we always do what I want on Comet Day."

"PROVE IT!" Tracy screamed.

"Uh...what?"

"Here comes the first comet flash!" Jackie pointed at the sky. "Let's see what it does!"

But the five teenagers couldn't see anything when the comet flashed mostly because it flashed near Tracy's room. Tracy gained a troll's outfit while Macy gained a princess dress.

"We're going to play make-believe!" Macy ordered harshly. "I am a princess! You are my disgusting troll servant Gucky!"

Tracy smiled and nodded feeling nervous and willing to serve.

"Uber totes Macy! Obedience is life!"

"That's more like it! I have already hired my royal minstrels!"

In the garage, Laney was reading the scroll Corey brought in.

"We're minstrels for a fake princess?"

"Not fake Lanes!" Corey pointed out. "Just pretend! Haven't you ever heard of LARPing?"

"We have!" Kin cried. "LARP is Live Action Role Playing!"

"It's like Halloween, but with costumes and pretending to be things!" Kon added. "No candy though."

"Unless you're a candy wizard!" Kin fist-bumped Kon.

"Yeah, yeah. Enough nerding around." Laney insisted. "Don't you guys have a bet going on?"

"Yeah Kin!" Corey turned Kin's head around and he saw Jackie standing outside watching the comet. "Now's your chance to make your move!"

"Don't bother encouraging him Corey!" Kon folded his arms and smiled. "He's never gonna make Jackie love him by the end of the day!"

Kin gulped and made his way outside. He stood next to Jackie and cleared his throat.

"Uh...hey Jackie."

Jackie looked next to her. "Hi Kin."

"Listen, uh, there's something that I wanted to talk to you about. It's kinda important and a little embarrassing but I have to tell you anyway! You see I-"

Jackie wrapped Kin around her arm tightly as she gazed at the sky. Kin had hearts coming out of him and smiled.

"Kin look! The comet's going to flash again! I wonder what will happen?"

The comet flashed and this time, it was aimed at Jackie and Kin. Jackie held her head after her wild experience.

"Whoa, that was a big one. Huh, I don't see anything different. Do you Ki-"

The manager gasped when she looked down at the keyboardist. He looked up at her and gave her a charming smile. One of the lenses on his glasses sparkled. Jackie's eyes went wide and her mouth stood wide open.

"Wow..." She sighed happily.

Kin stopped smiling and looked at Jackie concerned.

"Are you okay Jackie?"

Jackie snapped back to reality and giggled nervously.

"Uh, yeah! Totally! It's just that, I never knew that you were so...handsome."

Jackie leaned her face into Kin's but for some reason, he wasn't love-struck like his manager was.

"Thanks!" He stood up. "Always glad to get a compliment from my favorite manager!"

Jackie giggled and blushed.

"Anything for you Kin."

"Well, we should get to that gig." He poked Jackie in the nose. "Time's a wasting!"

Jackie squealed and followed Kin back into the garage.

"Hey guys!" Kin greeted his bandmates. "Ready to go?"

"Sure!" Kon nodded. "Guessing things didn't go well with Jackie."

"What are you talking about?" Kin questioned as Jackie stared at him with love in her eyes.

"Just admit it Kin! Jackie will never fall in love with you!"

"Of course she won't!" Kin declared. "Because I know she just wants to be friends!"

"Wait, what?!" Corey, Laney, and Kon went at the same time.

Kin put an arm around Jackie which made her smile even bigger.

"Jackie would never fall in love with someone like me! I mean look at me! I'm just a nerd! Right Jackie?"

Jackie blushed and laughed.

"Yeah Kin. Totally not in love with you..."

"See?" Kin let go of Jackie. "Now let's head to that gig of ours!"

Kin ran off to put on his costume. Jackie sighed lovingly and looked over at Kon.

"Isn't he dreamy?" She sighed again and followed her keyboardist.

Kon's jaw dropped to the floor. Corey and Laney were in disbelief too.

"Okay, what was that?" Laney asked. "Jackie was totally crushing on Kin!"

"Yeah! And Kin didn't even notice!" Corey added.

Kin came back wearing a jester suit.

"Hey, has anybody seen my hat?" He felt someone tapping his shoulder. He turned around and saw Jackie smiling and holding his hat.

"Ah! There it is!" Kin took the hat and patted Jackie on the cheek. "Thank you Jackie."

Jackie gasped and swooned.

"I'm definitely calling comet on this one." Corey said.

"This can't be happening..." Kon was in shock.

"Well it is." Laney told him. "Looks like you owe Kin ten bucks."

But Kon wasn't ready to fork over his money.

"No way! This cannot last for the entire day! Just wait..."

Corey put on his own hat for the gig.

"Next stop the kingdom of Sword 'N Shield!"

**JACKIE'S GOT A CRUSH ON KIN!**

The band arrived at the fake kingdom wearing their medieval outfits. The place was filled with people dressed as knights, jesters, and wizards.

"The yard center at House Improver's?" Laney asked.

"Wow..." Kin and Kon gazed at all the cosplay.

"A magic kingdom's gotta be somewhere!" Corey wrapped his arm around Laney and spread magic dust everywhere. "Use your imagination!"

"Fine..." Laney spotted a dog with a fake horn on its head. She climbed on top of it unenthusiastically. "Wow, a unicorn. Let us ride it toward a rainbow."

The red-head suddenly fell off the dog and it licked her face.

"Fine." Laney giggled petting the dog. "We can stay."

"I can't believe we're minstrels!" Kon clapped his hands excitedly. "Just like the Four Squalls!"

"Rock Lore moment!" He and Kin shouted and they started telling a story.

"Behold!" Kon began. "King Lyricles! The song-writing master of Rocklympus!"

"Bored and grumpy, he summoned entertainers from across the land!" Kin continued. "He fired a lot of them."

"Enter the Four Squalls! Ready to rock!"

"But the Four Squalls were not invited! Lyricles demanded they face his hugest and angriest knight..."

Kin was then interrupted by the sound of a trumpet.

"Aw c'mon! We're trying to tell a story here!"

A short squire was blowing his trumpet at the five of them.

"Presenting the royal minstrels!" He waved his hand toward a throne (which was a lawn chair) that Macy was sitting in. "Minstrels! You must bow before Princess Pritina!"

Tracy was finishing filing Macy's nails.

"All done Your Highness Princess!"

Macy looked at her nails and saw that they were filthy.

"Curse you Gucky!" She yelled. "Your troll hands fouled my nails! Clean them again!"

Tracy was about to start filing again but Macy stopped her.

"Without touching them!" She demanded. "I love being the boss of everyone!"

"Macy?" Corey said.

"I am Princess Pritina, minstrel!"

Tracy ducked behind Macy's "throne".

"Sorry Your Princessship." Jackie apologized.

Tracy stuck her head out and saw her sister.

"Jackie?"

"Tracy?" Jackie and the others giggled at Tracy's appearance.

Macy shoved Tracy under the chair.

"Do not speak to Gucky!" the fake princess ordered. "What will you play for me?"

"Good question Your Highness." Laney glanced at Corey as Macy spotted the band's instruments.

"What are those things?" She asked. "Where are your lutes, flutes, and dandy strings?"

"These are our instruments!" Corey strummed his guitar.

Macy covered her ears and growled.

"You have unhappied the princess! You will be executed!"

"Yes! YES!" Tracy cheered.

"Ahem!" Macy glared at her pretend servant reminding her to stay in character.

"I mean..." Tracy let out a dim-witted laugh and snorted.

**HAPPY TROLL TRANSITION!**

Jackie and the band were soon led to a shed full of gardening tools. A knight followed them to keep them in line.

"In the hole you rats!" The knight poked Kon with his balloon sword.

"Ow! So authentic!"

The knight slammed the door locking the five friends inside.

"Macy was so ragey!" Jackie observed. "It's like she's channeling my sister!"

"Ordering our executions is a total Tracy move!" Kin agreed. "Macy was totally calling shots back there!"

"That's just what I was thinking!" Jackie giggled. "Oh Kin, you and I so think alike..."

Kin looked at Jackie confused while Kon tried to take his eyes off the scene.

"This cannot be real..." He told himself.

Laney looked up at the sky where the comet was.

"Maybe there's something to this comet after all."

A little while later, Corey came up to his band holding another scroll.

"Good news!" He cried. "We won't actually be killed! But we will have to play our dead bodies for the rest of the day."

Jackie shrugged.

"Oh well. At least we'll be fake dead together." She hugged Kin. "Right Kin?"

"Um...sure..."

Just then, the comet flashed again and Mayor Swellow appeared wearing a powdered wig.

"As big head judge of Sword 'N Shield, I can get your sentence repealed!" He claimed.

Jackie let go of Kin.

"Mayor Swellow?" She went up to him. "Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on the town? It's Comet Day! Anything can happen!"

"Anything can and anything did!" The mayor referred to his wig. "I just woke up here with this crazy lid."

"So how do we not play dead all day?" Laney asked.

"If you defeat the royal champion in a duel, you'll be free!"

"Then we can play a cool minstrel tune and have some dragon steaks!" Corey exclaimed.

"They're just cheeseburgers." The royal cook said.

"I'll do it!" Corey volunteered. "Who did I just challenge?"

"Sir Rick of Salary." Rick showed up wearing a suit of armor. "Didn't think Rick was a suit guy, but here we are."

Tracy was drooling over the hunk in shining armor.

"He's so dreamy..."

"Gucky!" Macy scolded. "Only the princess may drool over her champion."

Tracy sucked up all of her drool and went cross-eyed while Macy started to drool.

"Get my drool lest the commoners totally see it!"

Tracy wiped up Macy's drool with a wet wipe.

One of the squires handed Rick a real sword.

"Here is thy sword Sire."

"Sweet." Rick replied.

"Do I get one of those?" Corey asked.

"Of course! Here's your sword!" Mayor Swellow blew up a balloon and twisted it into a sword.

"Great. A fake sword." Corey said sarcastically. "Perfect for bouncing off his real armor."

"Oh! Oh! Now do a swan!" Kon begged. He and the others were trapped in guillotines.

"Guys! What was the rest of the story about the Four Squalls!" Corey asked Kin and Kon. "Did they beat that knight?"

"Yeah, Kin." Jackie smiled and batted her eyelashes at the boy in glasses. "Tell us what happened in that cool story. I'll listen to whatever you say. You look cute in that jester's outfit by the way."

"I feel like I'm supposed to be enjoying all the compliments you're giving me." Kin said. "But for some reason, I'm more creeped out."

Kon was more focused on answering Corey's question.

"They totally beat that knight!" He and Kin continued their story. "It was awesome! The brave minstrels squared off against the invincible Smasheus!"

"ALL SHALL BE CRUSHED!" Smasheus shouted in the twins' thoughts.

"You'd think he'd say smashed." Kon said to himself.

But the story was once again interrupted, this time by Macy.

"When my royal wipee touches the ground, battle to...THE DEATH!"

Everyone gasped as Macy let go of her wet wipe and it floated towards the ground. Then the comet started to light up again. Corey's sword deflated as the comet flashed. Corey cringed.

"Wow that's a bright one! I wonder what that'll do."

The guitarist was scared out of his wits when he heard a loud screech. The comet had caused a portal to open up and Smasheus came out of it! Everyone screamed in horror. Two men in a horse costume split in half.

"I knew it!" Kon exclaimed. "There's two guys inside every horse!"

Smasheus held up his mace ready to smash the band.

"WAIT!" Macy saw that her wet wipe had finally reached the ground. "Now fight."

Jackie and the gang ran away as Smasheus dropped his mace. They all hid inside some shrub plants.

"What is that thing?!" Corey cried.

"Smasheus!" Kin answered. "He's the knight that the Four Squalls fought! We kind of imagined him..."

"And it became real?" Laney glared.

"I don't think you understand how hard we were imagining." Kon pointed out.

Mayor Swellow was running around in circles panicking.

"Blame that comet! I know I do! And now Smasheus will destroy us all!"

Another comet flash made a hammock appear. The mayor calmed down and made himself comfortable on it.

"Man, this hammock sure is nice. Thanks comet!" And the politician fell asleep.

"WARRIORS! TOTALLY ATTACK!" Macy commanded the knights.

The knights started to poke Smasheus's knees with their balloon swords.

"C'mon! Fall down!" One of them said.

"The red ones are the best swords!" Another insisted.

Smasheus leaned down and roared in their faces. Macy gasped in fear.

"Royal wizard squad! Use your magic!"

Three nerds dressed as wizards started throwing tennis balls.

"Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!"

But Smasheus's armor just bounced the tennis balls off of him. The evil warrior summoned a real lightning bolt from the sky and threw it at the wizards.

"AAAA! A lightning bolt!"

Once the wizards were taken care of, Smasheus stormed over to Rick. Rick tried to run away but he found that he was stuck.

"Rick can't move in this armor." He shrugged. "The price of coolness."

"Sir Rick of Salary, totally sacrifice yourself!" Macy demanded.

Tracy had a horrified look on her face.

"Rick no! I love you!" She ran off to save the popular boy.

"Tracy!" Macy shouted. "Gucky doesn't love Rick! You're totally out of character!"

Tracy wasn't listening though because she was too busy shoving Rick out of the way of Smasheus's mace.

Jackie and the band huddled up to think of a plan.

"Guys! How did the Four Squalls kick this guy's butt?" Corey asked.

"They had magical music." Kin explained. "A song full of spells."

"But it was still really snappy!" Kon added.

"Was it romantic?" Jackie looked at Kin. "Because I sure hope so!"

"There's a ton of wacky magic in the air!" Laney said. "Just up for grabs!"

Jackie stopped staring at Kin and went back to her "in-charge attitude".

"That's it!" She cried. "Grab some minstrel gear! I'll get some magic lyrics! But not from the usual place..."

**UNICORN TRANSITION!**

Everyone was still running away in fear while Macy was getting frustrated.

"Ugh! Fight you cowards!" She growled.

Jackie came up to her and leaned her arm on her throne.

"I bet you can't wait for that comet to go away and take all this crazy with it!"

"What do you mean Jokie?"

"Just saying." Jackie pointed up to the sky. "It'll be a relief to go back to being Tracy's troll!"

Macy gasped when she saw the comet flying away.

"No! Too soon!" Macy scowled angrily. "This is my time! I'm the one with the power! MEEEEE!"

Macy blasted into the air surrounded by flutes, harps, and balloon swords. She summoned Tracy's diary and started writing flames in it. This caused a portal to another dimension to appear. When Macy finished writing, she held up her pen and the flame on top of it burned out. She then turned back to normal and landed on her throne.

"What was that?" Macy held her head. "I feel so over-dramatic."

Corey ran to where the girls were and caught the diary.

"I'm sure it's a passing phase." Corey reassured her as he and Jackie joined the others.

Tracy, meanwhile was pulling Rick to safety.

"Thanks for the save Gucky." Rick said. "And way to smell like a troll. Commitment."

Tracy lifted up her arm and gasped when she found that she stunk. She coughed and gagged at her own odor. Just then, Smasheus stormed up to the couple ready to destroy them until he heard music.

"Hey Sir Temper Tantrum!" Corey called. "Behold! I Core of Yore! We're Grojband and the Four Squalls were just our opening act!"

"Knock em dead guys!" Jackie smiled at her band before looking over at Kin. "You especially Kin."

"Thanks Jackie! I'll do my best!" Kin poked Jackie on the nose again and she fainted.

"I don't believe this..." Kon mumbled.

"You sure this'll work Core?" Laney glanced at her crush.

"Lanes, I'm always sure it'll work!"

The band started to play a relaxing song.

_Corey: Once upon a time_

_Back when trolls were caked in grime_

_There was an evil warrior whose heart was filled_

_With the most heinous slime_

Smasheus let out a battle cry as he charged toward the band.

_Corey: But that warrior picked the wrong fight_

_With some minstrels of untold might_

The comet flashed and the band gained real fighting weapons.

_Corey: These minstrels it seemed had the power and the will_

_And the guts to stand up for right_

Laney jumped through the air and threw a flaming ring toward Smasheus. Corey joined her carrying a sledgehammer while Kin and Kon had a bow and arrow and glowing sword respectively. They each took turns attacking Smasheus.

_Corey: This is our day_

_We'll have our way_

_And magical words are what we say_

_Kin: Infermus Spearus!_

_Kon: Enchantus Weaponus Archanus!_

_Laney: Electros Manos!_

_Kon: Hey howdy hey!_

_We'll surely make you pay! Hey!_

_Corey: We have the power today_

_But it won't always be this way_

_But right here and now, though you may growl_

_You surely must obey_

Corey swung his sledgehammer and charged toward Smasheus.

_All: Go away!_

Corey delivered the final blow sending Smasheus back into the portal to his own dimension.

"Guys, I don't say this enough." Kon hugged Kin and Laney. "We're awesome!"

Jackie snatched Kin from Kon and squeezed him tight.

"Oh Kin! You were so brave out there! I like that in a man..."

"This is really happening..." Kon had a look of defeat on his face.

Macy came up to the heroes as the comet started to disappear.

"You've saved my princessdom!" She declared. "Gucky! Prepare a royal feast! While you still have to obey me! Gucky!"

When the comet was out of sight, Macy changed back to normal and unfortunately for her, so did Tracy.

"What did...you call me?!" Tracy scowled at the former princess.

"Um...uh-oh..." Macy screamed and ran away while Tracy chased her with a balloon sword.

"I'll Gucky you!"

Kon glanced at Jackie who was smiling and giggling at Kin. He sighed knowing that he had lost.

"Well Kin, looks like you were right." He told his twin brother.

"Right about what?" Kin didn't have a clue as to what Kon was talking about.

"You did it! In one day you made Jackie fall in love with you. All this time I thought you wouldn't! But you totally proved me wrong."

Kon reached into his pocket and pulled out ten dollars.

"I'm a man of my word. Here you go Kin. You can use it to take Jackie out on a date."

Kin was about to take the money until he flashed from the comet.

"Wait...did you say that..." Kin gasped and hearts filled his eyes. "Jackie's in love with me?!"

Corey and Laney looked at each other and snickered, realizing that Kin was back to normal.

"Well yeah!" Laney nodded. "But you totally ignored her!"

"Me? Ignore the prettiest girl I've ever met?" Kin said in disbelief. "I don't think so!"

Kin ran toward his manager. "Oh Jackie!"

Jackie turned around love-struck. "Kin?!"

Then Jackie flashed from the comet's disappearance. She didn't seem to remember anything.

"Jackie! There you are!" He blushed deep red. "So, Kon told me the news..."

"What do you mean Kin?"

Kin giggled. "Like you don't know! I figured it out! You're in love with me!"

"Love?" Jackie laughed hysterically which made Kin's spirits break. "Oh Kin you say the silliest things sometimes! You don't have to worry about me falling in love with you, because I know you just want to be friends!"

"But-but-" Kin stammered as Jackie patted his cheek.

"Honestly Kin, you have got to stop listening to your brother."

The brunette walked away while Kin continued to stammer.

"But-but-but-"

"Yes!" Kon started to skip around Kin and sing. "She doesn't love you! She doesn't love you! It was just the comet! Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!"

The drummer held out his hand.

"I believe you owe me ten bucks Lover Boy!"

Kin sighed sadly and handed his brother the money.

"We played for royalty, I got a kiss from a unicorn." Laney recalled. "Not a bad gig."

A spotlight shined on Corey as he began his final thought. Tracy was still chasing Macy with a balloon sword.

"Success doesn't come from who you play for Lanes. Or what kind of magic animal licks your face. It comes from inside. But when you let it out, there's a giant metal monster right behind it! The trick is to know when to blame the comet."

"Well, I'd prefer to thank the comet!" Kon pointed at Kin. "Cause it got me ten bucks from this guy! Oh yeah! Go Kon! Who's a winner?"

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Tomorrow I'll be able to type on my computer again so leave some episode suggestions in your reviews and hopefully, I'll get another one out tomorrow. Bye!**


	12. Dream On Part 1

**Sorry it took so long with this one. I was having too much fun breaking the fourth wall. So this one is based on "Dreamreaver" which was requested by DragonQueen103. But before we begin, I would like to answer some questions from some guest reviewers. Normally, if someone asks me a question in review form, I will usually respond via private message. But unfortunately, these are guests who don't have accounts that I can private message to so I have to do it this way (if there is a way to reply to guest reviewers and I am missing something let me know).**

**Okay, the first question is from Shelly Marsh who says:**

**"Maybe in one of the chapters you have kon get telled off for being a major jerk to his brother crushing his dreams of love like that Kin's his brother he's suppose to at least support him that doesnt sound like the twin brother I saw on T.V"**

**Yes I know it's not really a question but I would still like to respond to it anyway. So the answer to this implied question is kind of complicated but here goes. The reason Kon is such a jerk to Kin and crushes his dreams all of the time is because...he's jealous. But he's not jealous because he's in love with Jackie, because he isn't. He's jealous because Kin has been ignoring him more ever since he met Jackie. Hence why in Chapter 10 when he tried to get Kin's attention only to get shoved away because he was blocking Kin's view of Jackie. Kon is actually afraid that Kin is going to forget about him and at the same time, is angry that his brother has tuned him out. So to retaliate, he tries to sabotage Kin and Jackie's relationships by making Kin look bad and brings Kin down by saying that Jackie will never love him. Kon will tell Kin how he feels eventually and Kin will try to get Jackie to like him while at the same time, maintain his friendship with Kon. This is actually based off of the relationships of another show on Cartoon Network I used to watch: Regular Show. In the show, the main character, Mordecai, has a crush on Margaret, the worker at the coffee shop and tries to get her to like him. His best friend Rigby, is jealous of all the attention Mordecai gives Margaret so he tries to ruin their dates and bring Mordecai down by saying that Margaret will never get with him. So that's pretty much how Kin, Kon, and Jackie work in this story. Hope that clears things up.**

**The next question is from Michelle Rita and she says:**

**"Question One how many chapters are you hoping to finish or will you being the the whole season? ****Also in case you do your final chapter can you make it Here us Rock pretty pretty please pretty please. I may remind you of this some times maybe but please please make here us rock the final chapter please please if you get it to it or when you get to it please please. ****(And when you do your next chapter you can do one of the reviewers sugesstion just us Here us rock as the final chapter )"**

**Well, the first question is kind of hard to determine. However, I will try to do the whole season if everyone wants me to. That's a total of 52 chapters plus the four at the beginning which gives us 56. However, I'm hoping that there will be plenty of original suggestions and I might also throw in some ideas of my own. I don't know if there is a limit to chapters on here but if there isn't, I plan to do at least 100. We'll just have to see how it goes. Also, as a side note, I will start taking original suggestions after Chapter 24 when I will have completed 20 episodes. **

**The answer to the second question is easy: Yes. Hear Us Rock Parts 1 and 2 will be the final chapters. Here's hoping we get a second season though, because maybe, just maybe, I'll write another story for that one. If it comes out. **

**Anyway, I'm wasting a ton of space right now and I know you're probably done with me talking and just want to read Chapter 12 so I won't keep you from it any longer. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Dream On Part 1**

Jackie's garage was in a state of silence. The manager had gone out with her parents so the band was on their own. Currently, Kin and Kon were facing off in the ultimate ping-pong battle. The two brothers stood on opposite sides of the table giving each other the evil eye. Laney stood in the middle holding the ball. Kon growled and Kin did the same indicating they were both ready. Laney tossed the ball to Kin. The keyboardist/scientist served and smacked the ball to Kon's side. Kon let out a war cry and hit it back toward Kin. Kin dove in front of the ball before it could land. Laney watched intensely as the twins continued to hit back and forth. Finally, Kin jumped into the air and smacked the ball right into Kon's stomach. This caused the drummer to crash into the wall.

Suddenly, Corey dropped down from the ceiling and picked up the ball.

"I will avenge you my friend." he said, his lips moving even after he had finished his sentence. "For I know the champion's weakness."

Kin gave Corey a death stare while punching his paddle and Corey gave him one back while swatting the ball repeatedly against the table. The two continued to signal each other until Laney stood on top of the table.

"Hurry up already!" she complained.

Corey smiled ready to make his move.

"Oh Kin…" he sang. "Jackie's here!"

At the sound of her name, Kin turned around with hearts in his eyes.

"Where? Where?!"

This was Corey's chance. The beanie-wearing singer's paddle sparked and turned neon blue. He jumped up and served the ball. It flew so fast that it teleported near Kin's paddle and broke right through it. Kin turned around and gasped as his paddle had a huge hole in it.

"NOOOOO!" he wailed. "How did you know that my only weakness was love?!"

The nerdy kid got on his knees and sobbed. Laney poked him on the shoulder.

"So, my turn to play the winner!"

The ball, however, was still going. It bounced off the ceiling toward Laney and Kin. The two ducked before it could hit them and it bounced off the floor and into Kon's mouth. Kon spat the ball out and it flew toward Corey who blocked it with his paddle and it hit the TV turning it on. There was a commercial going on at the moment and an old man was on the screen.

"3D Dave here from 3D Dave's!" the man said. "Tranquil Town's most mentally stable home electronic store!"

Dave led the viewers inside his store where a whole line of televisions were shown.

"Where prices may seem crazy at first, but actually result in a modest profit while still offering bargains!"

He then went outside where a group of people were watching some of the televisions through the store window.

"The bargainers lining up for my anniversary sale need something to watch while they stare at my store window!" Dave had spirals in his eyes. "So send me your home movies, face-plant mash-ups, even music videos! And I'll put em in my window! It's perfectly sane!"

The advertisement gave Corey a mind-blowing idea. He shut off the TV and faced his bandmates.

"Guys! People, maybe dozens are going to pass that window tomorrow! And they're gonna peep Grojband's first music video!"

Laney, as usual, was not too keen on Corey's idea.

"And which of our lyricless songs do we wanna make a video of?"

"One we don't have yet!" Corey leaned on the bassist. "Never stopped us before!"

"True…but it's almost stopped us!" Laney pointed out. "Every time before!"

"Good one bro!" Corey punched Laney lightly on the shoulder.

"We can do this!" Kin encouraged the lead singer. "Just look at how sick our ping-pong narration was!"

"Yeah…Too bad no one knows about it." Kon said as he and the others looked over at…

Wait a minute…why are you guys looking at me?

"Who are you?" Corey asked.

"What are you doing?" Laney joined in.

"Why do you look so much like someone I'm in love with?" Kin had hearts in his eyes.

Well…I'm the author. I'm the one who writes about the adventures you guys have with Jackie, your new manager. And the reason I look like her is because she's based off of me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Corey interrupted rudely. "You write stuff about us?"

"And you're writing exactly what we're saying right now?" Laney questioned.

Uh…yes. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to writing the story.

Kin waved his hand in the air.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Ms. Author?"

Ugh…what is it Kin?

"Can I ask a question?"

…Fine…but make it quick.

"So, if you're the one who created Jackie, you know everything about her right?"

Yes…that is true…why?

Kin blushed. "Well…I was just wondering…does she like me?"

Yes Kin. But only as a friend right now.

"Aww…"

Now, would you all please leave me alone so I can work?

"Hey!" Kon exclaimed pointing to a keyboard. "What's this thing do?"

Well, it's my keyboard. I use it to write stuff into the story.

"Cool! Can I try?"

Wait…what are you doing?! Don't touch that!

"I like unicorns!" Laney blurted out. "They're so fluffy and pretty and cute! And sometimes I like to dress up like them when I'm all alone!"

Laney covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"Wait, what?!" Laney gave an angry glare. "Kon! I'm going to kill you!"

"Hey guys!" Corey exclaimed. "You wanna know what my secret is? I still suck my thumb at night!"

Corey demonstrated by putting his thumb in his mouth and made sucking noises with it.

"Dude! What the heck?! How'd you know?! I mean…I don't do that!"

Kon was laughing hysterically. He looked at Kin last.

"Hey Kin…remember yesterday when your science experiment exploded all over me?"

"Dude…if you do anything to…I'm a nerd! A geeky, drippy, know-it-all, badly-dressed nerd! And not only that, I ignore my twin brother Kon all the time because I'm in love with a girl who's not even into me! And no matter how many times I fail to make her fall for me, I never admit that Kon is always right! I think of myself as a genius, but I'm really a big sap!" Kin gave a nerdy laugh and snorted. Kon laughed too clutching his ribs.

"Dude! Seriously?! I'm not that badly-dressed! And that experiment incident yesterday was an accident!"

All right! That's it! Enough! Give me that keyboard! I'm writing this story my way!

Finally Kon stopped fooling around on the author's keyboard and he and the others decided to forget that they had ever met or seen her.

"Wait, forget?" Corey said. "Why would we want to forget?"

I said they all forgot they met the author and started minding their own business from now on!

Corey stood blank.

"Wait, what I was saying?"

He then remembered.

"Oh yeah!" the band leader continued. "Visualizing Grojband's music! It'll be a dream come true!"

Just then, Tracy entered the garage after hearing the whole thing.

"Visualized?!" she scoffed. "It's bad enough you can be hear-alized!"

The selfish teenager stormed to her room. She sat on her bed reading a book she had been getting into.

"Grr…I'm the one who's supposed to be visualizing things…" she said to herself.

Macy popped out from under Tracy's bed and gasped.

"You're reading 'The Hint?'" the curly-haired teen was in disbelief. "The self-awesomizing help book that teaches you how to make your dreams into real life through visualization?!"

The BFFs took hands and chanted together.

"Hint in your dreams and when you wake, they'll all be real for goodness sake!"

They both squealed and giggled.

"MACY! NAPTIME! NOW!" Tracy demanded.

Macy laid Tracy down on her bed and put her bunny slippers on her feet. Tracy continued to read.

"It says that if I use the power of positive hinting by visualizing Jackie's lame band failing, it could become a reality!"

Macy fluffed Tracy's pillow and tucked her in.

"Sweet dreams Tracy." she whispered and turned off the light.

Back in the garage, Corey was pacing back and forth.

"So according to my research, one-third of all music videos are about the bling. Another third's about how tough you are. And the last third's all about the booty!" he pointed to his rear. "All right gang! Show me the money!"

The other three rockers emptied their pockets onto the coffee table. The total amount of money they had summed up to was fifty cents.

"Ooh gum!" Kon cried spotting the gumball. He sucked it into his mouth like a vacuum. Because of that, the band now had zip.

"So…no bling then?" Corey guessed. "Who's tough?"

Kin and Kon had on gangster outfits. Kin growled showing off his fake gold teeth while Kon blew a bubble from his gum. The bubble then popped all over his face.

Corey sighed. "I guess we go with the booty!"

"No happening." Laney shook her head. "This booty ain't built for shakin'."

"The key with booty is to make it go pow!" Kin explained. "Watch and learn."

He and Kon pulled down their pants and started shaking their butts back and forth.

_Booty, booty, booty pow!_

_Booty pow, pow!_

_Pow, pow, booty pow!_

_Booty, booty, pow, pow!_

Corey just watched the scene awkwardly.

"Uh guys? You really shouldn't do that now." he informed them. "Jackie's home."

"Yeah right Corey!" Kin continued dancing. "I'm not gonna fall for that trick again!"

"Except she's standing right there." Laney gestured to the door inside the garage where Jackie was standing with her eyes and mouth wide open. Kin removed his shades and blushed while Kon smiled pointing toward his brother.

"It was Kin's idea!"

"Jackie…I can explain!" Kin said.

"Oh…" Jackie chuckled nervously. "That's okay Kin. You don't have to. Hey, would you guys excuse me? I need to go to the bathroom to bleach my eyes…"

The manager exited the garage and Kin face palmed.

"Great!" he moaned. "Now Jackie thinks I'm a booty-popping weirdo!"

"Ooh! That's a big improvement!" Kon observed. "She used to think you were just a regular weirdo!"

"Don't worry guys!" Corey reassured his friends. "We got all day to come up with an awesome video idea! It's not like magical forces are working against us!"

Meanwhile, Tracy was fast asleep in her room. She was dreaming and mumbling at the same time.

"Crush Grojband…crush Grojband…"

"And even if they were, it wouldn't matter!" Corey finished as Jackie came back into the garage.

"Okay…sorry about that." she looked down and saw Kin smiling at her. But she just walked around Kin too afraid to talk to him. "So, what's been going on guys?"

Corey proceeded to tell Jackie everything that had happened since she had been gone.

"Whoa…sounds like a lot has been going on!" the brunette exclaimed. "A music video sounds awesome! It'll totally get you guys more popularity! And the best part is, I can film it for you! So, what's gonna be in it?"

Corey smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, see…that's where we're kind of stuck…"

"Hm…" Jackie thought for a second. "Maybe TV will help get those wheels in your head turning."

She turned on the TV and Destiny Providence was on the screen.

"I'm Destiny Providence!" she greeted the viewers. "This just in! In spit-take inducing news, 3D Dave's window has been mysteriously boarded up with boards! And nobody can see through!"

Corey was shocked when he saw that the store window was indeed blocked.

"We go live to Buster Newsworthy!" Destiny continued.

"Yes Destiny, the window is indeed covered with an impossibly dense layer of wood." Buster turned over to 3D Dave. "How out of business does this put you?"

"Um…not much at all really…" Dave replied.

"Riveting!" Buster looked back toward the cameras. "And there you have it folks!"

"That window is totally peek-proof!" Corey looked down disappointed. "No one will ever see that video we haven't made yet…"

Tracy and Macy were listening in from the door.

"Yes!" Tracy cheered. "It worked! I totally hinted that into happening! I made those losers fail with my mind!"

Macy laughed nervously while giving Tracy a thumbs-up. Her thumb was covered with a bandage.

"Yup…you sure did Tracy…"

Macy recalled what had actually happened a while ago. When Tracy was asleep, Macy snuck over to 3D Dave's and covered the window with boards.

"Tracy's gonna be uber happy when she thinks she did this by hinting!" the nerdy girl had told herself. "Nothing can ruin this moment!"

That was when she accidentally hit her thumb with the hammer she was using to put up the boards and she screamed with pain.

Back in the present, however, Tracy had no idea that her own best friend was responsible for what happened.

"I am so mastering this visualization biz!" she said grabbing hold of Macy's hand and squeezing her hurt thumb. "Time to hint for some Rick Salary crushables!"

Corey was lecturing his band members on what to do for their music video.

"We need to do a video so amazing…" he pointed at the TV. "That it can't be stopped by a bunch of boards on a window!"

"This just in!" Buster reported. "Turns out that the boards kind of come right off."

And sure enough, he was right when 3D Dave removed one of the boards from the window.

"Told ya!" he said folding his arms.

"Guys!" Corey beamed. "We are gonna make the biggest, craziest video anyone has ever seen! And it's gonna have everything we ever wanted!"

"Like lasers!" Kin suggested.

"And 'splosions!" Kon added.

"And dirt bikes!" Corey cried out.

"And a giant gold tiger!" Laney chimed in.

The others looked over at her surprised that she was actually giving her own ideas.

"Cause now I'm into this!" the red-head explained.

Jackie wrote down all of their requests on her clipboard.

"Got it!" she finished writing. "Okay you guys! Let's get to work!"

"Hold on!" Corey stopped her. "Jacks, you haven't told us what you want in the video yet!"

"Oh, I'm down for anything!" Jackie looked over at Kin and cringed. "As long as you guys don't take off your pants…"

Kin frowned and felt like crying.

"Let's do it!" Corey held up his hand, lifting his pointer and pinky fingers and the others joined him. "Grojband powers…rocktivate!"

There was a slight pause until Laney spoke up.

"Uh guys? We don't actually have any powers."

Corey put his hand down.

"But we will in our video!" he reminded the bassist.

They all lifted their hands again and chanted together.

"GROJBAND POWERS ROCKTIVATE!"

Later, after filming the video and adding tons of visual and special effects, the gang reviewed what they had so far.

The video showed Kon playing his drums while spinning around in a giant tire that shot flames. Kin played his keyboard while floating in the air. All the while, Corey and Laney rode up a giant volcano, Corey riding a dirt bike and Laney riding a gold tiger. When they reached the top, the bike and tiger crashed into each other and exploded and Corey and Laney joined their instruments and played together. The video ended with the volcano erupting and filling the screen with flames. Jackie paused the video and looked toward her friends.

"So, what do you think?"

The four of them were speechless at first.

"Hm…" Corey began. "Am I the only one who was really confused by that video?"

"Nope!" Kin answered. "I think we all just did what we thought was awesome."

Kon scratched his head. "Four kinds of awesome looks weird!"

"Yeah." Laney nodded. "And now we need lyrics that go with a golden tiger, laser, dirt bike-surfing, drum-spinning, volcano-sploding, extravaganza video! Core…"

"No Macy!" a loud voice came from inside the house. "In my hinting dreams, Rick had sheep for feet! Not cows!"

"Too bad we can't get this video into Tracy's dreams." Jackie said. "She'd diary up some twisted lyrics for sure!"

Kin tapped Jackie on her shoulder.

"I hope this doesn't make me too creepy, but I could make that happen…"

The scientist took out a cattle prod and gave a wicked smile. Jackie stepped away from Kin cautiously.

**CREEPY KIN TRANSITION!**

Tracy was in her room admiring a picture of Rick Salary on her wall.

"Oh Rick…" she sighed. "So perfect! Your eyes…your teeth…the way your teeth match your eyes…I've been dream hinting for Rick five ever!"

"Five ever?" Macy was confused.

Tracy growled. "Longer than four ever! But…I always wake up before the best part!"

"Well, maybe don't hint for a wedding on the moon." Macy suggested. "Try something smaller like…something a BFF could actually make happen."

"NO!" Tracy yelled. "I want moon weddings!

The long-haired teenaged brat growled with anger but turned sweet again when she saw the picture of Rick.

"Oh Rick…my sweet, sweet Rick! I bet that adorable little jacket would be totally nice to sleep in!" Tracy gasped. "Maybe I'll try dream-hinting for that!"

Macy groaned to herself as she left the room.

"Oh great…first vandalism, now theft."

When Macy was gone, Jackie stuck her head in through Tracy's room. Tracy immediately greeted her sister with a loud roar.

"YOU DARE ENTER MY REALM?! LEAVE!"

"Hey, if you don't wanna try Kin's special dream-come-true machine, that's cool. Whatever."

"As much as I want my dreams to be ultra-powerful, why should I trust y-"

Before the girl could finish, she was zapped by Kin's cattle prod and fell unconscious.

"You got her consent right?" Kin looked up at Jackie. "Hey, has anyone told you that you have the most beautiful eyes?"

Jackie was still feeling awkward around the keyboardist.

"No…has anyone told you that…you're good at twerking?"

Kin turned red and looked away too scared to face his crush.

Soon, Tracy was hooked up to Kin's machine. Her eyes were wide open and drool was coming out of her mouth.

"She's been watching our video in a loop for five hours." Kin looked on his laptop. "The confusion center of her brain is lit up. Another few seconds and her mind will be bent!"

Kin's computer screen showed an X-ray of Tracy's head. Sure enough, her brain cracked into a million pieces.

"Bingo!" Kin cried. "Bent!"

"Cool!" Corey gazed at the screen.

"We'll wake up old sleepyhead and she'll write about her crazy dreams, and we're good to go!" Jackie shut off the music video in attempt to wake her sister up. Unfortunately Tracy still had her eyes wide open and was staring at the screen.

"Hello?" Corey waved his arm in front of Tracy's face. "Tracy!"

"Wake up!" Laney shouted into her ear.

Kon knocked on the helmet she was wearing.

"Knock, knock! Anybody home?"

"Kin! What's going on?!" Jackie started to panic.

Kin examined what was going on inside Tracy's head from his computer.

"It's a nightmare." he said closing the laptop. "A big one."

He poked Tracy in the eye and shook her head but Tracy remained unresponsive.

"Her senses have completely shut off. No megaphone, bucket of water, or screaming monkey can wake her up."

Jackie looked behind her and saw Corey holding a megaphone, Kon holding a monkey, and Laney holding a bucket.

"Sorry guys." she told them and they ditched what was in their hands.

"We'll never get our lyrics now!" Jackie complained. "And I feel kinda bad that I broke Tracy's brain. Am I going soft?"

"There's only one thing we can do!" Kin declared.

"Get her to a doctor?" Laney guessed.

But this idea was way off to the one Kin and Kon had.

"Connect our minds using science helmets and enter her dream!" the twins said together.

"Whew!" Corey sighed. "Glad there's a simple logical solution!"

**HELMETS TO THE RESCUE!**

Each one of the band members put on a helmet, each one connected to a long tube.

"So, what makes these helmets science?" Laney asked Kin who was connecting the tube to Tracy's helmet.

"Well, the helmets are regular." he explained. "The science is really in the tubes."

A cattle prod came out of Kin's helmet and he turned to Jackie.

"It's okay Jackie. There's nothing to be scared of. You can hold my hand if it'll make you feel better." Kin held out his hand and giggled.

"Uh…no thanks Kin. I'm not scared. At least…not scared of entering Tracy's dreams…"

Kin knew what she was really afraid of. He leaned toward Kon and whispered to him.

"Hey Kon, remind me later to use these helmets to enter Jackie's mind so I can erase that image of me booty-popping in front of her."

Kon shrugged. "Fine. But it's not gonna make much of a difference. She still won't love you."

Kin ignored his brother's harsh remark and connected his cattle prod to Tracy's helmet. The electricity shocked Jackie and the gang and soon they all fell to the floor unconscious and ended up in Tracy's dream. The area they were in was cloudy and dark. They could see Tracy's car in a ditch burning with flames.

"Huh." Laney looked around. "Dead and lifeless. Looks like the inside of Tracy's head to me."

"Solid burn Lanes!" Corey complimented the red-head causing her to go love-struck. "But this is totally Weirdsville! Or at least Strange Burrow!"

Kon looked ahead. "Is that a mall?"

The group spotted a mall where shopping carts were floating in the air.

"Well, a mall is probably the best place to find Tracy…" Jackie pointed out. "Let's go!"

They strolled over to the mall entrance. As soon as they got there, the door opened and Rick Salary stepped out.

"No surprise that Rick is in Tracy's dream." Laney observed.

But the Rick that left the mall wasn't the last they saw of the hunky teenager. Three more Ricks dressed in firemen uniforms (with no shirts) carrying a fire hydrant ran by them.

"What the-?" Kon went.

Then a female Rick came up pushing a baby carriage with a baby Rick inside.

"Rick must be everyone here!" Corey said.

The female Rick and the baby Rick saw them. The baby Rick spat out his pacifier.

"The band!" he exclaimed and hid inside his carriage.

Even more Ricks surrounded Jackie and Grojband.

"The band!" they all shouted.

"Rick should for sure get them!" the baby Rick shot out of his carriage and punched Kon right in the mouth.

"Kon!" Jackie cried.

"Baby cannons?!" Kon was terrified as Baby Rick farted on his belly. "Is this my nightmare?!"

"Many Ricks! Get the band!"

"Get the band!" all of the Ricks shouted.

"What's happening here?!" Corey wondered out loud. "Why is this a wasteland?! Why is everyone Rick?! Why are they shooting babies at us?! Why?! Why?! WHY?!"

Then the blue-haired kid spied something that looked familiar.

"Golden tiger and dirt bike tracks!"

Laney, Kin, and Kon were sitting in chairs similar to the ones shown in movie theaters.

"What a cliff hanger!" Kin exclaimed.

Kon started eating popcorn.

"Cliff hanger indeed!" Jackie nodded.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

**To be continued…**

"Continued?!" Laney complained. "You mean we're stuck in Tracy's head for another chapter?!"

* * *

**Afraid so Laney. I've written like 5,000 words now and I'm tired. Part 2 will be out tomorrow. Don't forget to leave some suggestions for episodes you want to see next! **


	13. Dream On Part 2

**Whoa, Part 2 turned out to be even longer than Part 1. But it's finally finished! Hope you enjoy!  
**

**But unfortunately, before we begin, I have to answer another guest review. Yeah, I know, you're probably sick of me responding to these but this one will be shorter.**

**This guest review is from Madison Wooten and she says:**

**"I have just started reading this and it's way better than I thought! So after part 2 of Dream On how about we do Space Jammin, I would love to see that!"**

**First of all, thanks! It's always nice to receive reviews like this. Secondly, I would do "Space Jammin'" as the next chapter, but unfortunately, "Rock the House" needs to come first before I can do that one. Yes, I am aware that "Space Jammin'" aired way before "Rock the House" did but to me the latter is a way better episode to introduce a new character in. And since I no longer have the list up for newcomers, I'm just going to leave it here permanently. So here is a list of episodes that need to go in a specific order:**

**Episodes that need to come after "Rock the House" because of new (secret) character introduction:  
Space Jammin'**

**Wish Upon a Jug**

**Creepaway Camp**

**Six Strings of Evil**

**Grin Reaper**

**Kon-fusion**

**Here are episodes that have to come after another certain episode:**

**The Pirate's Lounge For Me (after On the Air and Out to Sea)**

**A-capella-lips Now (after Line of Credit)**

**And here are episodes that need to go near the end for various reasons (mostly because of relationships):**

**It's In the Card**

**Curse of the Metrognome**

**And obviously Hear Us Rock! has to come last. **

**Okay, now that I got that cleared up, here's part 2 of Dream On.**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Dream On Part 2**

"Previously in Meeting Grojband…" Corey narrated. "Kin sent us into Tracy's dream world with science helmets."

"And Kin also embarrassed himself in front of Jackie with his booty-popping, so now she's too scared to talk to him!" Kon continued.

"Hey!" Kin glared.

"Guys! There's no time for that!" Laney snapped the boys out of the past. "Tracy's dreams are filled with Rick Salarys and we're under attack!"

The mother Rick fired her baby at Kon knocking him down. Then more Rick babies came out of nowhere and took Laney, Kin, and Jackie down. Corey looked up and was shocked to see a flying monkey with Rick's face on it.

"Rick Salary says…nighty-night!"

The next thing Corey knew, he was out cold along with the rest of the band.

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes and saw the flying Rick monkey.

"Rick Salary captured the band and Queencess Tracy's sister and saved the world." he said. "His jacket will warm the shoulders of our beautiful monarch."

Corey looked around and saw even more Rick monkeys surrounding them.

"Rick Salary disagrees!" another monkey said to the first monkey. "He's in charge of this mission! Queencess Tracy will choose his jacket!"

The two handsome primates started hitting each other in the face while making monkey noises. Another monkey flew up to the two and stopped their fighting.

"Rick Salary hates to be that Rick Salary, but these guys aren't the band."

"Wait, what?" Jackie went as she and the others heard a motorcycle engine and a familiar voice behind them.

"Maybe they're our opening act."

The five turned around and gasped at what they saw. Standing in Tracy's dreams were four replicas of the band members. They looked just like the band except they were gray in color and had evil red eyes. The Corey representation was riding a dirt bike while the Laney representation was riding a gold tiger.

"Count us in Kon!" the fake Corey ordered.

The fake Kon hit his drum sticks together.

"1, 2, 3, 4!"

He started to play his drums which caused the ground to crumble. A hole formed around the group of Ricks.

"Rick Salary doesn't dig holes." one of them said and they all fell into the abyss.

"Look at me!" Kon cried. "I'm an earthquake machine!"

Laney was confused.

"Are we two bands?"

The flying Rick monkeys swarmed down to capture the fake Grojband but the fake Kin zapped them with his keyboard. One of the monkeys dodged the laser but then got eaten by the fake Laney's tiger. Once the Rick army was taken care of, the sinister looking shadows regrouped and faced the real band.

"W-w-who are you?" Jackie stuttered.

"Surely you remember your own creations Jackie." the imposter Corey began. "We're the guys those hunks really want. The ones who really took over this dream. We're Mirage Band."

"I-I made you?" Jackie asked.

"You were the one who put together that music video." Mirage Corey explained. "You are our creator. And starting today, you are our manager."

"What?!" Grojband shouted in unison.

"No way!" Corey scowled.

"She's our manager!" Laney nodded angrily.

Kin held on to Jackie's waist. "You can't take her away from me! Er, us!"

"I was hoping we could do this the easy way." Mirage Corey smiled. "But you've left us no choice. Kin!"

Mirage Kin pressed a key on his keyboard and a rope shot out of it. The rope flew toward Jackie tying her up. Jackie was pulled out of Kin's arms and flew over to where Mirage Kin was.

"Jackie!" Kin wailed.

Mirage Kin lifted up Jackie.

"Hello beautiful!" he made a tiger sound to be romantic which made Mirage Laney's tiger growl at him.

"Let go of her you creepy copy-cats!" Laney demanded.

"Don't worry Jacks!" Corey reassured his manager. "We'll get you outta there! We just need to think of a way to-"

Before the singer could finish, Kin was already charging to where Jackie was.

"I'll save you Jackie!"

Mirage Kin fired lasers at his mirror opposite and he immediately ran away from them. Mirage Corey revved up his dirt bike and started charging at the four of them.

Suddenly, a door magically appeared below the band and opened. Corey saw that the guitar in Mirage Corey's hands was glowing and sparking.

"Guys! Jump in!" Corey told his bandmates.

"But what about Jackie?" Kin said worriedly.

"We'll get to her later! Right now, we gotta get outta here!"

The blue-haired boy jumped into the door and the rest followed suit. Mirage Corey saw that they were gone and screeched to a halt.

"Ugh!" Mirage Laney grumped. "They've escaped!"

"No matter." the fake band leader told her. "They'll be back to get their manager. Or should we say…our manager?"

"You're gonna love being our evil sidekick!" Mirage Kon exclaimed. "You'll destroy hundreds of dreams with us!"

"And once we rule over Tracy's mind, you'll be my queen!" Mirage Kin held Jackie in his arms and leaned in to kiss her.

"Let me go!" Jackie yelled shoving the imposter Kin away. "I'll never do anything you say! I'm not your manager and I never will be!"

Mirage Corey chuckled evilly. "We'll see about that."

Meanwhile, Corey and the gang found themselves in a strange looking prison. Kin was crying his eyes out.

"Oh poor Jackie!" he sobbed. "Why couldn't I have protected you better? It's all my fault!"

The kid with glasses hugged Kon and cried into his shirt while Kon patted his back soothingly. The drummer looked around the place.

"We came all the way to Tracy's dream to find ourselves, and now, we're in jail!" Kon looked ahead. "Whoa!"

"But how did we get here?" Corey wondered.

Just then, the band saw a tall figure in the shadows who came out to reveal herself. It was a teenaged girl with pigtails wearing a long blue dress. The girl looked a lot like Tracy, and believe it or not, it was Tracy!

"I saved you Jackie's band." Tracy smiled. "As a favor to Jackie. It's what big sisters do!"

"Tracy!" Corey cried. "You're having a bad dream! Wake up so we can get out of here!"

Tracy pinched Corey's cheek in a friendly way.

"It's Tray-Tray silly!"

"Tray-Tray?" Corey rubbed his cheek. "Jackie told us that no one's called you that in years!"

Tray-Tray giggled. "I love the name! Queencess Tracy hates it. That's part of why she defreedomed me in this dungeon forever ago."

"Sounds like she locked up the nice part of herself." Corey whispered to the others. "Weird."

Tray-Tray got a good look at her sister's friends.

"Wow, you guys look almost like the band who destroyed the world!"

"Yeah…" Corey rubbed his hand on the back of his head. "We just met them. And they took Jackie with them."

Tray-Tray gasped in horror.

"Oh no! That's terrible!"

"I know right?" Kin agreed. "There's no way she can defend herself against those monsters!"

"Oh that's right!" Tray-Tray snapped her fingers. "You're Jackie's little boyfriend!"

Kin got hearts in his eyes.

"Boyfriend?!"

"Not even in a dream." Kon remarked.

"So, how long has this Mirage Band been here?" Corey asked the formerly sour teenager. Tray-Tray squealed happily.

"Movie time!" she pulled down a screen which showed a video of what happened. Tracy was dressed in a royal gown and was holding a dog that looked just like Macy. Rick was across from her. The two were having a romantic picnic on a hill.

"Long ago, everything was so made of love it was like, what? Rick Salary was offering his jacket in marriage to Queencess Tracy. Then, super terribleness came from the north east!"

The movie showed the sky becoming dark as Mirage Band entered the scene.

"It was the band!" Tray-Tray continued. "They were all 'BOOM!' and 'ZAP!' and 'ROAR!' and 'DIRT BIKE'!"

Mirage Corey strummed his guitar destroying everything.

"The band made the whole world dusty and creepy like Grandma's house." Tray-Tray finished. "They were going to take over right away, but they needed one more thing to complete their plan. Their creator, aka, my sister, aka, your manager, Jackie! Now that they have her, their next step is to destroy Queencess Tracy."

"We destroyed the world?" Kin asked.

"That's how you drop a video!" Kon held out his hand. "Atomic high-five!"

"Not now Kon." Kin sighed. "I'm too depressed."

"Tray-Tray," Corey started. "We have to find Tracy. Where is she?"

"She's been in her happy safe place ever since." Tray-Tray explained. "It wouldn't be nice of me to tell you where it is but…I could give you a hint!"

Tray-Tray made air quotations at the last word.

"Get it?"

"Could you be more specific?" Corey requested.

"Hint!" Tray-Tray winked. "Read between the lines, Jackie's lead singer! This is like, the oldest 'hint' in the book! 'Hint'!"

Corey was starting to understand.

"Say 'hint' one more time!"

"Hint!"

The guitarist gasped for he had figured it out.

"It's obvious! The Hint! Tracy thinks she can shape her dreams with it! She's probably hiding inside that book!" Corey laughed triumphantly. "Good work team!"

Laney and Kin just shrugged having no clue what Corey was going on about.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Another door teleported Grojband and Tracy's nice side out of the jail.

"So, you could just escape whenever you want." Corey pointed out. "Why don't you?"

"That would be unobedient." Tray-Tray informed him. "But, helping the friends of Jackie feels like my heart is totally hugging itself! Bubble hug!"

Tray-Tray picked up Corey and made motor boat sounds across his belly.

"Tray-Tray!" Corey burst into laughter. The others did too. Corey slipped out of Tray-Tray's arms and she gave them all a serious look.

"Go! Save the queencess! Save my sister! Save the entire dream world!"

Corey cleared his throat.

"Okay! That book is in Tracy's room! Let's go!"

"So, do we bus it?" Kin asked.

"This is our dream too Kin. Can't we just dream up a ride?"

"I don't know! No one's ever done this before! We should all be pretty terrified."

Kon hugged Kin tightly.

"But we're not!" he said. "Go for it Core!"

So Corey imagined a way for him and his bandmates to reach Tracy. Afterwards, they were all floating through the air.

"Why wait for a bus when we can fly?" Corey called to Laney.

"And why are we flying on rainbows shooting out of our butts?"

Kin was riding on top of Kon.

"There's always room for fun!" Kon exclaimed.

"Plus these rainbows have snapped me out of my Jackieless depression! Because we're gonna come and rescue her!" Kin cheered as he and Kon started to sing.

_Off we go_

_Flying on cool butt rainbows_

_Shooting light out of our pants_

Tray-Tray waved goodbye as her new friends flew away but suddenly, shadows appeared over her and she was taken away.

"Gee, I hope Jackie is okay." Kin said. "Who knows what torment we're laying on her right now?"

Jackie was currently trapped inside of a glass dome the gray versions of her best friends had put her in. "Let me out you fakers!" she demanded. "Because if you don't, my band is gonna come here and teach you a lesson you won't ever forget!"

"Beg all you want!" Mirage Corey insisted. "You're stuck with us for eternity!"

Mirage Kin went up to the dome and started flirting with his creator.

"Yeah toots. No use crying your way out! You'll never get free!" he put his hands on the glass. "So, what kind of robe do you want when you become my queen?"

Jackie growled. "I'm not your queen! I'll never be your queen! You're not even the real Kin!"

"Of course not. I'm better and cooler."

"You are not! You'll never be as cool as Kin! None of you are as cool as the real Grojband!"

"Look who I found!" Mirage Kon had Tray-Tray in his hands.

"Tracy?!" Jackie said in disbelief when she saw her sister in pigtails.

"It's Tray-Tray actually." Tracy's good side corrected her and gave Mirage Band a mean glare. "You don't scare me Mirage Band! My adorable sister's band is going to wake up the queencess and there's gonna be some clever music pun that means you're dead!"

Mirage Corey laughed. "They'll find Queencess Tracy for us!"

The dirt bike riding lead singer looked up at a rainbow soaring across the sky.

"Let's follow the rainbow guys!"

"Bubble hug!"

"Huh?"

Tracy made motor boat sounds on Mirage Laney's tiger.

"Esmeralda! No!" Mirage Laney scolded. "You're supposed to eat people!"

"See?" Jackie smiled hopefully. "They're going to stop you! All of them!"

"Oh no they're not!" Mirage Kin replied. "Because once we follow them there, we're gonna destroy the queencess and then your little rock stars will go bye-bye! And the first one to go will be your little keyboardist!"

Jackie struggled in her glass dome cage.

"You can't do this! You monster!"

"Save your energy gorgeous." Mirage Kin said smoothly. "We're gonna need it. Anyway, I'm not the one who scarred you for life with all that 'booty, booty, pow, pow'. Remember? That image still haunts you to this day, doesn't it?"

Jackie shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah…but that doesn't matter! I'd rather have a keyboardist who shakes his booty than one who's nothing but a nasty, dorky, conceited nerd!"

Mirage Kin was angry.

"That's it! I don't care how cute you are! You have crossed the line way too many times!" Mirage Kin looked over at his leader. "Corey, can we-?"

"Absolutely Kin. I thought you'd never ask."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Jackie asked nervously.

"If you're gonna be our manager, you've gotta blend in with the way we look." Mirage Corey explained. "And that means, all that color has got to go."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

The fake band lifted up their instruments and they started to flash.

"Jackie! No!" Tray-Tray tried to stop them but Mirage Kon shoved her out of the way.

"Count us in Kon!" Mirage Corey said and Mirage Kon did so.

"1, 2, 3, 4!"

The combined instruments created a shadowy light which fired right at Jackie's dome. Jackie screamed in pain as the color was drained out of her.

"Fear the awesome power of our negative energy!" Mirage Kon cried.

"We're gonna be gal pals forever!" Mirage Laney added.

"Sorry baby! This hurts me more than it hurts you!" Mirage Kin smiled menacingly.

Tears streamed off Jackie's face and she shivered from the pain.

"You won't get away with this…" she mumbled.

"Oh, we already have." Mirage Corey said. "Welcome to the band…Ms. Creator!"

**JACKIE'S IN TROUBLE NOW!**

Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon were still flying on their own butt rainbows toward a replica of Tracy's room in the sky. Kin and Kon continued to sing.

_We blast away_

_On our stinky rays_

_Hey wow! This is cool!_

_How do we land?_

The twins crashed head-first into the clouds surrounding Tracy's room. Kon farted out a rainbow. Corey and Laney landed on their feet and looked around the room.

"Okay, we're looking for Tracy's copy of 'The Hint'." Corey reminded his bassist.

"Are you sure Tracy's happy place is inside a pile of mumbo-jumbo?"

As if on cue, Corey ran into a giant book.

"Found it…" he groaned.

"Wow…" Laney stood surprised as Kin and Kon joined them.

"This thing is her magic dream cook book in real life." Corey stood up after falling down. "Maybe it's the same thing here! And who would look for Tracy in a book?"

The blue-haired teen opened up the book and they all teleported inside. Unfortunately, some unfriendly figures were right behind them.

The four appeared next to a giant unicorn horn surrounded by hearts.

"Looks like a happy place to me!" Corey observed.

Laney looked above her and saw how high the horn went up.

"Uh… guys? How do we get to the top?"

"BUTT RAINBOWS!" the boys shouted together and they all soared to the top of the horn with one fart.

Tracy was at the top asleep in her bed. A dog version of Macy was sleeping next to her.

"Look! There she is!" Laney pointed to the sleeping teenager.

"She's asleep here too?" Kon shuddered. "Do we have to go into her dreams' dream?"

Macy's dog form heard them and growled. She started barking loudly and ran toward them.

"Punt!" Laney kicked the dog with glasses sending her away. "I hate yappy dogs."

"Tracy! Tracy! Wake up!" Corey shook Tracy's sleeping form. She immediately woke up still wearing her sleep mask.

"I do Rick Salary!" she removed her sleep mask and frowned when she saw her sister's lead singer.

"What are you doing here beanie boy?" she questioned rudely. "My happy place is a dork-free zone!"

"You're awake!" Corey exclaimed. "Now wake up again so we can get out of here!"

"But you'll miss the encore." Corey heard his own voice behind him. He turned around and was shocked to see that Mirage Band had followed them.

"Oh great…" Corey groaned.

Kin was angry and bravely faced the shadows.

"You! What have you done with Jackie?"

"Oh don't worry." Mirage Corey reassured the keyboardist. "She's not hurt one bit."

Mirage Band moved out of the way revealing Jackie who was now a deep gray color.

"Jackie!" Kin embraced his crush. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

But Jackie wasn't happy to see Kin. The instant he hugged her, she used a powerful magic blast to get him off.

"Jackie?" Kin stood up after getting hurt.

"Hello former band members." Jackie smiled evilly. "I see you've met my new friends and also my new band."

"New band?!" Kon panicked.

"Jacks, we're your band, remember?" Laney reminded her gal pal.

"Yeah Jackie! You manage us!" Corey tried to convince the gray girl.

"Not anymore." Jackie was holding Mirage Kin's hand. "We're taking over this place and I shall be the new queen! Meet my royal successor."

Mirage Kin tickled Jackie's chin. "Oh you."

Kin gasped at the harsh betrayal.

"Count us in Kon!" Mirage Corey said.

"1, 2, 3, 4!" the shadowy drummer blasted a sound wave toward Tracy. Tracy screamed and hid under her blankets. All of Mirage Band started firing lasers. Corey ran up to his bandmates.

"Guys! If we can't wake Tracy up, we need to protect her!"

"How?" Laney asked.

"By rocking these figments off her brain stage and turning Jackie back to her old self!"

"With the lyrics we can't get while Tracy's asleep?"

"We'll get our lyrics! Hold em off!"

"With what?!" Laney called as Corey ran back to Tracy.

Kin and Kon stepped up holding paddles.

"Ping!"

"Pong!"

"NARRATION!"

Laney rolled her eyes and groaned. "We're dead."

"Slice of doom!" Kin's paddle flashed and he smacked three balls toward Mirage Kin.

"Eek!" Mirage Kin quickly dodged them.

"Rapid fire ball blast!" Kon swung his paddle while hitting multiple balls at Mirage Kon. Mirage Kon ducked behind his drums.

Jackie laughed at the twins.

"You really think that your silly little games can stop us?" she signaled to Mirage Corey. "Show them what's what around here Corey!"

Mirage Corey strummed his guitar blasting Kin and Kon backward. Laney caught both of their paddles.

"I play winner." the paddles flashed and she joined them together to create a giant ball of light. She screamed as she threw it toward Mirage Laney. However, Esmeralda was able to block the ball and send it back at the red-head.

"Truth time Tracy." Corey said to the frightened teenager. "We, we kinda brought this nightmare band here."

"What?" Tracy was confused.

Meanwhile, outside the dream world, Macy had returned from robbing Rick of his jacket. She gently placed it on Tracy's lap and snuck away.

"And then our music video gave you this nightmare." Corey frowned guiltily.

"And you and your band of twizerppy twerps interrupted my heart-felt hand-holding with Rick?! We were going to get jacket-married!"

"That Rick was just a dream." Corey reminded Tracy. "In the real world, Rick will probably never love you! Just saying!"

"I'm so confused…" Tracy growled. "And angry!"

Tracy lifted up her hand and her diary floated toward her.

"It's diary time!" Corey exclaimed.

Tracy screamed and flames appeared on her bed. She shot up into the air surrounded by dirt bikes and gold tigers. Fire swirled around the top of the unicorn horn as Tracy wrote in her diary. Flames burst through the ground at the bottom of the horn too. Tracy finally finished and landed on her bed. Corey caught the diary and went back to his friends who were beaten up pretty bad.

"I got Tracy's diary!" he informed them. "Let's rock this dream world and get our manager back!"

"But we don't have any instruments!" Laney reminded the band leader.

"Sure we do. In our dreams!"

Lightning struck down and Corey gained a guitar. He held it up in the air and it glowed.

"GROJBAND UNITE!"

More lightning bolts gave the rest of the band instruments.

"C'mon Jacks!" Corey encouraged Jackie. "Come back to us!"

"NEVER!" Jackie screamed and angrily looked at Mirage Band. "Destroy them!"

But Mirage Band was too scared. Mirage Corey gulped.

"Count us in Kon!" the real Corey said.

"1, 2, 3, 4!"

Corey did a power chord so loud that it created a bigger sound wave than Mirage Band. Mirage Corey rode his dirt bike and prepared to shoot them with his guitar.

_Where is I?_

_Who am we?_

_These are questions for reality_

Corey moved his pick across his guitar creating bar lines that knocked Mirage Corey off of his bike.

_Up is down_

_And blue is red_

_Welcome to the inside of my head_

Mirage Kin pressed a key on his keyboard firing a laser at Kin but Kin deflected it with a laser of his own. Kin's laser was stronger than his gray opposite's and Mirage Kin's keyboard was split in half.

Mirage Laney rode in on Esmeralda and prepared to pounce on Laney. Luckily, Laney used her bass to turn Esmerelda into a baby kitten.

Mirage Kon fought back by playing his drums. Kon let out a war cry and jumped into the air holding his drumstick which became larger in size. The real drummer crashed into the fake drummer.

_My mind is miiiiiiinnnne_

Jackie was the last one on her side. She created a huge shadowy light with her hands and threw it at Grojband. The band played their instruments and created a shield that absorbed the light.

_My mind is miiiiiiinnnne!_

Kin looked down sadly.

"Sorry Jackie. This is gonna hurt me more than it's gonna hurt you."

The gang all played their instruments together and a giant sound wave hit Jackie and Mirage Band. Jackie screamed when the wave hit her.

**BOOM!**

Mirage Band was finally gone for good. All that was left was Mirage Kon's shoes.

"Nice finale dude!" Kon complimented Corey.

"Not gonna lie Core." Laney started. "At first I was pretty mad at being trapped in Dreamland. Now, I'm still that, but less scared."

"Thanks Lanes!"

The gang suddenly heard crying from a distance. They saw that the smoke from the explosion was clearing and Jackie was lying on her knees, finally back to normal. They rushed over to the brunette.

"You okay Jacks?"

Jackie looked up at Corey with tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry…" she sobbed. "They forced me to join them…I didn't want to…but then they used their powers against me…I tried to fight it but….it was too strong…it hurt…I was so scared…please…will you forgive me?"

Kin kneeled down and helped his manger stand.

"Oh Jackie…of course we forgive you…you're the greatest…"

"Oh Kin!" Jackie grabbed the boy in glasses and cried loudly. Kin smiled and hearts came out of him.

Corey patted Jackie on the back.

"It's cool Jacks. The important thing is that you're back to normal and we destroyed the fake uses! And all we have to do is remember those lyrics when we wake up, and we're golden!"

"Oh, you'll never wake up!" a loud voice boomed from above the five teenagers.

Tracy was now giant-sized and she was angry.

"TOTALLY ALWAYS NEVER WAKE UP!"

The evil teen lifted up a giant slipper and threw it down to squash them all. The band screamed and that's when the dream ended.

Tracy woke up on the couch and looked around.

"Ugh!" she muttered. "I hate dreams! I always wake up right before the best part! Huh?"

Tracy saw something on her lap and her attitude completely changed.

"Rick's jacket? I love dreams!" she jumped off the couch and ran away. However, she was still wearing her helmet when she left so the tubes connecting the other helmets broke. Jackie and the band woke up too.

"We're alive!" Laney exclaimed.

"And I remember the lyrics!" Corey added. "Now we've got crazy words to match our crazy video!"

"Our crazy video that'll…destroy the world…" Kin said creepily.

Corey and Laney exchanged nervous expressions. The next thing they knew, they were burying the laptop in Jackie's yard.

"So long video." Kin saluted. "Dreams…visualization…other themes…"

The scientist/keyboardist sighed as he looked at his broken invention.

"And so long chance of getting that embarrassing image out of Jackie's head. Now every time she looks at me, she's gonna think I'm a big freak…"

"Kin?"

Kin saw Jackie standing behind him smiling.

"Hey, listen. I just wanted to say that…you were amazing in Tracy's dream! The way you totally destroyed that creepy fake version of yourself! And when you and the others saved me from Mirage Band's gloomy spell! It was awesome!"

"Huh?"

"I'll never forget how brave you were Kin! And from now on, every time I look at you, I'm gonna think you're a hero!"

"A hero?" Kin's eyes went wide.

"But not just any hero." Jackie hugged her favorite keyboardist. "My hero."

Kin gasped and swooned. Corey and Laney looked down and saw him holding his heart.

"Dreams really do come true…" he giggled.

"I don't know…" Laney thought about it. "Does anyone feel like we're still dreaming?"

"Maybe we were never awake Lanes." a spotlight appeared over Corey. "And our lives are in the head of a solid gold tiger. Or the noisy heart of a dirt bike. When the ground starts to shake and little dogs can fly, are we really gonna sell any TVs? If that's the dream, I'm not going to bed!"

The spotlight disappeared and Laney gave Corey an awkward face.

"That made no sense. It would have been perfect for our video Core!"

"Hey wait a minute!" Jackie suddenly remembered. "Where's Kon?"

They all looked back into the garage and saw Kon was still asleep but at the same time, another Kon was throwing a blanket on him.

"Shh…he's sleeping…"

The second Kon farted a rainbow and floated into the air. Corey's eyes widened at this but then he shrugged it off.

"Meh. Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**Well, as usual I'm out of suggestions for episodes so tell me some that you want to see and I'll see you later!**


	14. Let the Games Begin

**Well, it's official. This is my new favorite chapter that I wrote. Mainly because...NEW CHARACTERS! Yeah, you guys probably know who they are by now but in case you don't, I won't spoil it for you here. Anyway, this one is based on "Rock the House" which was requested by guest reviewer, Audrey Rose. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Let the Games Begin**

The morning bell rang at Elementary High. The students were just coming in for their daily dose of education. Jackie entered the hallways of learning like she did everyday. Except this time, her favorite band was with her.

"Thanks for letting us come to your school Jacks!" Corey looked around. "Can't wait to see what school is like in this world!"

"Looks like the same boring old school that we went to in our world." Laney was unimpressed.

"Yeah, but this place has red lockers!" Corey pointed out as Jackie reached her own locker and opened it.

"I figured this way you guys could get to know some of my classmates and increase your popularity!" Jackie reached into her backpack and dug around for something but she couldn't find it.

"Hey, has anyone seen my science book?"

Jackie felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around and saw Kin handing her her science book with hearts in his eyes.

"Oh! Thanks Kin!" Jackie took the book and put it in her locker while Kin giggled and blushed.

The brown-haired girl took notice of something on Kon's back.

"Hey Kon? What's that?"

Kon looked down at Kin so he could answer but he was still in a trance. Kon punched Kin in the arm snapping him out of it.

"Oh! Right!" Kin cleared his throat. "See, if me and the other guys meet our fiery death during a chili cook-off gone wrong, you won't have a band anymore. So in the event of that happening, I created this!"

Kon turned around revealing a normal-looking backpack.

"Uh, sorry to get your hopes up Kin, but backpacks have already been invented." Jackie pointed out.

"It's not just any backpack. It's a One-Man-Band-Pack! One tug of the string, and all you gotta do is sing!"

Kin demonstrated by pulling the string on the backpack.

"So you planned for our deaths?" Laney said.

The backpack then released a ton of musical instruments and Kon started playing all of them.

"Cool huh?" Kin looked up at Jackie smiling.

"I guess…" Jackie shrugged.

"Look! It even plays speed metal!" the keyboardist pressed a button on a remote and the instruments started to play even faster, so fast that Kon couldn't keep up.

**KA-BOOM!**

Kin's invention went all over the hallways and Kon's hair had smoke coming out of it. The other band members ducked out of the way before the explosion could get to them. Jackie looked over at Kin and he blushed.

"Hm…might need some minor adjustments."

Laney noticed that Corey was gone.

"Hey, where'd Corey go?"

As if on cue, Corey came back carrying a flyer he had found.

"Cancel your plans!" he informed the others showing them the flyer. "Because this is Grojband's newest claim to fame!"

Jackie took the paper and read through it.

"The Tranquil Town School System's Battle of the Bands…" she read aloud. "That's right! They do that every year! Of course, knowing my town, they're not just straight-up music fights! Wonder what they're doing this year. Greco Roman checkers? Quill to the death?"

"Chili cook-off?" Kin and Kon chimed in.

"Even better!" Corey exclaimed. "Extreme curling!"

"Yeah!" Kin cheered. "The ramps! The speed!"

"The high risk of injury!" Kon added.

Laney didn't like the sound of the event.

"Core! Extreme curling is so dangerous! I say, we take a vote. All in favor of entering the extreme curling battle and dying before we learn to drive?"

All three of the boys raised their hands which left Laney outnumbered.

"Ugh…why do I keep calling these votes?"

"I dunno Lanes!" Corey shrugged. "But I'll file a protest in your name!"

**GOTTA BE ALIVE TO DRIVE!**

Later, after school, Tracy was in her room putting pins in Macy's hair.

"Ow!" Macy cried.

"Macy! Stop feeling pain!" Tracy ordered. "I need to get better at this! Do you know how embarrassing it was getting cut from the scarf-knitting team?"

Tracy recalled the time she attempted to knit a scarf for the team and things didn't go well.

"I don't know why it started on fire." Tracy had said. "It just did! Am I team captain or what?"

"Argh!" the present Tracy groaned throwing a bunch of pins at a target with Jackie's picture on it. "Why even try? Who cares about school and doing things and stuff?"

Macy's phone bleated and she looked at the latest message on Bleater.

"Rick Salary does." she told her friend. "He just bleated 'Congrats to the scarfing team. Rick bleats that fourth place is almost close to nearly winning. Keep that school spirit coming!'"

"Rick loves school spirit?" Tracy beamed. "This is my in! If Rick loves school spirit, then I love faking loving it! When's the next spirit thingy?"

Macy checked her phone. "Today! Extreme curling!"

"Perfect!" Tracy posed. "I look ultra cute when I'm curling!"

A few hours later, the curling competition was about to begin. Jackie and Grojband had their equipment all set up in the gymnasium.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Kin said. "Any idea who we're playing?"

"Nope!" Corey shook his head. "It's more dramatic to find out when it's too late to back out."

"I hope it's the winners from Champion High!" Kon anticipated. "They always lose!"

"Well, whoever they are, they sure are taking their sweet time." Jackie said impatiently.

Just then, the door to the gym opened and a shadow was standing outside in the halls. Jackie and the gang huddled together as the figure made its way into the gym. When it stepped into the light, the silhouette was revealed to be a teenage boy with brown hair. Jackie had recognized him right away and the boy recognized her too.

"Hello Matthews." he said carelessly.

"Jack Matterson." Jackie glared. "My gender opposite and worst rival!"

"I thought Tracy was your worst rival?" Laney pointed out.

"…Jack Matterson." Jackie tried again. "My gender opposite and my second worst rival! What are you doing here?"

Jack scoffed. "Well, if that's the way you're going to treat the competition, I might as well leave!"

"Wait, you're the competition?" Jackie was in disbelief.

"That's right. Ready to lose again Matthews?"

"Just because you beat me once at air hockey doesn't mean you'll beat me in this!" Jackie replied getting in Jack's face. "Anyway, my band is unstoppable Matterson! You don't even have a band!"

"Au contraire Matthews." Jack snapped his fingers and the janitor brought over a microphone. The boy took the microphone and started speaking like an announcer at a wrestling match.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Teachers and students! Prepare yourself for the band that is awesome! The band that is stupendous! The band that is way better than whatever Matthews dragged out of the garbage! The band that you know has got to be good because I manage it! Give it up for…THE NEWMANS!"

The gym door opened again and a spotlight shined on a girl with blue hair and a beanie, a boy with red hair, a short girl with black hair and glasses, and a tall fat girl with blonde hair and a red sweatband.

"Carrie, Larry, Kim, and Konnie!"

Jackie's band gasped when they saw Jack's.

"The Newmans?!" Corey wailed. "What are they doing here?"

"You know these guys?" Jackie asked her lead singer.

"Of course we do!" Laney answered. "They're our worst enemies! We used to battle them all the time back where we came from!"

The girls (and one boy) met up with their manager and faced their gender bents.

"We meet again Grossband!" Carrie greeted smiling wickedly. "Not sorry to disappoint you, but you're not playing winners, you're playing us!"

"Yeah!" the girl known as Kim remarked. "Jack's the best manager ever! We can't lose with him cheering us on!"

Kim leaned against Jack with hearts coming out of her.

"Right Jack?"

"Exactly Kim!" Jack poked Kim on the nose. "No one's ever beaten us!"

Kim swooned into Konnie's arms and sighed.

"He's so dreamy…"

Konnie just rolled her eyes.

"No one's ever beaten you until today Matterson!" Jackie said. "My band can totally knock your band to the ground!"

Jack laughed. "We'd like to see them try!"

"Ready to lose again Corey?" Carrie asked.

"I'm never ready when I lose!" Corey shouted. "And beating me at curling is gonna be a lot harder than beating me at pinball!"

"Man, we have got to work on his trash talk." Laney whispered to Jackie.

Rick was sitting in his own private seat in the audience chowing down on popcorn.

"Rick says popcorn is the perfect snack to fuel up in school spirit."

Tracy zipped up to the popular boy curling her hair.

"Hi Rick! Look how good I am at curling because you like it! Totally cute and spirity right?"

Rick ignored Tracy and tilted his head so he could see the game.

"Why isn't Rick watching me spirit curl?" Tracy complained to Macy. "I thought he loved this junk!"

"I think Rick came here for the curling game." Macy corrected her BFF.

"CURLING GAME?!" Tracy screamed. "Someone thinks she can outcurl me?! Rick! Watch me curl!"

Mayor Swellow was hanging from a rope on the ceiling. He tapped into a microphone getting ready to introduce the games.

"Sports fans, welcome to the Battle of the Bands Extreme Curling Edition!" the mayor announced as the crowd screamed with delight. "Please give a loud 'This is our house' boo to our visitors…The Newmans!"

The audience booed and Carrie stuck out her tongue at them.

"You people wouldn't know a good band if it blew your eardrums off!" Jack shouted.

Jackie snickered quietly.

"And your home team…Grojband!"

The audience applauded as the band waved (all except for Laney who was a little nervous).

Mayor Swellow pulled out a card from his pocket.

"Now the rules." he began reading. "Members from each team will mount their stones connected to their musical instrument. Contestants will then…"

Swellow paused as he read the rest.

"…fly down their ramps at high speed before soaring majestically through the air and over the house to engage in a physical battle joust for supremacy?! That's terrifying! The team with the most rocks closest to the center wins the game and the right to rock out before their peers!" the mayor threw his cards out of his hands. "This is insane! A good mayor would ban this…have fun!"

Jack and his band looked down the ramp. Larry stood back looking more nervous than his female opposite.

"Jack? Girls?" Larry said. "I am not built for this! And I didn't bring my inhaler!"

Jack put a hand on Larry's shoulder.

"C'mon Larry! You're tougher than that! Remember, us guys have to stick together!"

The boys of Grojband were amazed at how far the ramp went down. Laney stood back still unsure about the whole thing.

"Guys, this is kinda smashy." she told her bandmates. "I'm actually hoping Tracy will monkey wrench this plan."

Jackie was starting to agree with the only girl in her band.

"Yeah guys. This does look unsafe. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"No dice Jacks!" Corey reassured her putting a helmet on Laney. "And when we wear these helmets, Tracy won't even know it's us! Besides, I think she's a bit preoccupied."

And the beanie-wearing teen was right because Tracy was still curling her hair in front of Rick trying to get his attention.

"Rick look! Rick look! Rick look! Rick look!"

But the hunk continued to look at his phone rather than his fan girl. Macy noticed smoke coming from Tracy's hair.

"Um…Tracy? It looks like-"

"This!" Tracy interrupted. "It looks like this! Rick look!"

Rick finally put his phone down and faced the badly-behaved girl.

"Rick says sorry." he said. "But Rick's excited to get his school spirit to max pep and doesn't want to miss anything."

Tracy raised her hand. "I can raise your spirit! Watch me curl my hair again! Adorbs right?"

A pack of cheerleaders entered the gym and started doing a spiritual chant.

"C'mon team! Show your stuff! Our school spirits are high enough! YAY!"

Rick looked over at the cheerleaders and smiled.

"Rick says cheerleaders are the best thing for spirit. After winning."

"Macy, why aren't I a cheerleader?" Tracy gave Macy a mean glare.

"Um…" Macy started to remember the time Tracy tried out for cheerleading.

"I don't know why the gymnasium started on fire." Tracy had said. "It just did. So am I team captain or what?"

"If cheering for our team will raise Rick's spirit…" Tracy scratched her chin. "Then I'll be the team captain of doing that!"

"Great idea Tracy!" Macy smiled. "But that means you'll be cheering for your si-"

"OTHER WORDS ARE NOT NEEDED!" Tracy screamed.

Kim connected her keyboard to her curling stone.

"Okay Kim!" Jack said encouragingly. "I want you to go out there and make me proud by beating the stuffing out of Jackie's lame keyboardist! Can you do that for me?"

Kim blushed and hearts surrounded her.

"Oh Jack! I'll always make you proud!" she giggled.

"Honey, he is so not into you." Konnie told her sister.

"Hey, a girl can dream can't she?"

"Okay Kin, you're first!" Corey told his friend as he plugged in his instrument.

"I programmed my keyboard to play new wave synth tone!" Kin stood on his curling stone. "I'll surf the sound waves, and drown Kim in my wake! Easy!"

"Good luck Kin!" Jackie smiled. "I know you can do it!"

Kin giggled and hearts surrounded him.

"Dude, you know you'll never get with her." Kon rolled his eyes.

"A guy can dream can't he?"

"You sure about this plan Kin?" Laney gestured toward Kim. "Kim looks mad."

Kim growled as Mayor Swellow came down from the ceiling with an air horn.

"On your mark…get set…"

The mayor blew the horn and the two keyboard players rode down the ramp.

"Go get er Kin!" Jackie called.

"Knock im dead Kim!" Jack shouted.

Kin stepped on his keyboard as he flew through the air. A sound wave came out of it just like he said and blasted Kim backward. Kim was about to quit until she saw Jack cheering her on. Seeing her crush encouraging her was enough to give Kim a second wind. She rode her stone toward Kin and smacked him with her keyboard. Kin fell off his stone and hit his head on the ground. Even though he was wearing a helmet, he was hurt pretty bad. Kim landed her stone safely near the target in the center.

"KIN!" Jackie cried.

"1-0 Newmans!" Mayor Swellow reported. "This is terrible!"

The crowd booed at the rival band scoring. Jackie climbed down the ladder to the ramp and ran toward Kin who was lying on the ground, eyes closed.

"Kin!" she lifted up his head.

Jack came down too.

"Way to go Kim!" he patted Kim on the back. "You smacked that nerd like a fly on a windshield!"

"Oh Jack…" Kim giggled. "You have such a way with words."

The other band members joined Jackie as she tried to wake Kin up.

"Kin…speak to me!"

Kin opened his eyes weakly and saw his manager above him.

"Jackie?" he coughed. "I'm sorry…I failed you…"

"It's okay Kin…just please stay with me!"

"Jackie?"

"What is it Kin?"

"There's something I have to tell you…" he gagged. "Something I should have told you a long time ago…I…I lo…I love…"

The boy with glasses shut his eyes again as he went unconscious. Jackie got on her knees.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Corey comforted the brunette.

"Don't worry Jacks! We're only down one! And Kon'll totally beat Konnie! I mean, nobody can out drum Kon!"

Kon got onto another curling stone with his drum set. When the mayor blew the horn, Kon slid off the ramp busting out a fast rhythm. Konnie did the same with her own drum set.

"Go Kon!" Jackie shouted.

Kon was ready for his doppelganger knowing that he could beat her in a drum-off. But Konnie was prepared because she flipped a switch on her drum set firing cymbals at the black-haired teen. Fortunately, Kon dodged all of the cymbals but he forgot to look ahead of him.

"Ba-dum bum?" Kon mumbled as he ran right into Konnie's stone and fell face first on the ground.

"Yes!" Konnie exclaimed as she landed.

"That's my drummer!" Jack screamed loudly. "WHOO! In your face Matthews!"

"With two rocks in the house, the Newmans are dominating!" Mayor Swellow said through the mic. "It's a miracle no one has been pulverized! Well, except for the nerdy kid."

Kin was currently laid out on a stretcher. Jackie was next to him crying. Coincidentally, Rick was feeling sad too.

"Rick says we're losing…" he groaned. "Rick says…sigh…"

"Rick! Rick! Have no fear! Your personal cheerleader's here!" Tracy chanted in a cheerleading outfit. "You asked for spirit, yes you did! Here's a spirit pyramid! Look how much spirit I have!"

Tracy got on top of a pyramid with the other cheerleaders. Macy was at the bottom struggling to carry all of them. She tried her best to keep Tracy and the others up but soon her back threw out and the pyramid crumbled to the ground.

"Macy! I'm trying to be spirity!" Tracy scolded.

"Rick's pyramid is broken…" Rick looked at the scores again. "Rick's team is losing. Rick's starting not to believe in nothing no more…"

Tracy gasped and grabbed Macy by the collar.

"Macy! Rick's spirit isn't gonna rise if our team, whoever they are, doesn't win!"

"Actually, our team includes Jack-"

"ENOUGH!" Tracy yelled. "Can't you see my spirit is too low to listen to you right now? RAISE IT FOR ME!"

She released the curly-haired nerdette and she started to do a dance.

"Tracy! Tracy! Rhymes with Macy! C'mon Tracy you can do-"

Tracy grabbed Macy by the lips and glared.

"You're like, brutal…"

**BRUTAL DANCE TRANSITION!**

Jackie and Kon stood over Kin who was still unconscious. Jackie wiped a tear from her eye.

"Oh Kin…this is all my fault…" she sniffled. "Why did I let you go through with this? I should have known better."

Kon pulled out a stethoscope and put it toward his brother's heart.

"Whoa! He's got a fast heart beat for someone who's unconscious! I wonder what he's dreaming about…"

Inside Kin's brain, he was imagining himself and Jackie riding in a carriage pulled by horses. His dream form glanced at Jackie's dream form and the two held hands.

"On second thought…no I don't." Kon shuddered in disgust.

Laney was up next. She connected her bass to the curling stone while Corey tried to comfort her.

"I know you're scared Lanes but-"

"That was before! We need this!" Laney had fire in her eyes. "I'm gonna end Larry!"

Larry screamed "I don't wanna do this!"

"Man up Larry!" Jack said. "Do it for the team!"

Mayor Swellow blew his horn and Laney made her way down the ramp strumming notes on her bass.

Carrie started to push a terrified Larry down the ramp.

"Too fast! Too faaaast!" Larry cried.

Laney zoomed toward Larry's stone ready to destroy him. But Larry was too scared to fight Laney and jumped off before she could hurt him. Laney smacked into the empty stone and landed near the target.

"Yeah!" Corey exclaimed.

"You go girl!" Jackie high-fived Corey and Kon. "Okay, Core! You're up!"

"There's no way I'm gonna lose to Carrie!" Corey said to himself.

"This is gonna be candy!" Carrie yelled to her male counterpart. "No one outsolos me!"

"It's Battle of the Bands, not Battle of the Solos!" Corey reminded her. "The singer is the front man, but the band propels him! Kin! One-man-band me!"

"Uh, Kin's still in a Jackie coma Corey." Kon informed the leader.

"Oh…yeah…" Corey looked at the drummer. "Then you one-man-band me Kon!"

Kon put Kin's invention onto Corey's back and he plugged it into his stone.

"Let's rock."

"I can't believe your mothers let you do this. But..." Mayor Swellow blew his horn.

Carrie started to play on her guitar while sliding down the ramp and it started to flash at Corey. Corey smiled and opened the One-Man-Band-Pack. He played a chord on his guitar blowing Carrie off her stone and the blue-haired boy landed right in the center. Jackie, Laney, and Kon met up with Corey and hugged him.

"Yeah! Way to go!" Jackie cried.

"Now it all comes down to a final joust to determine our champion!" Mayor Swellow announced. "And it looks like it's manager on manager!"

Jackie let go of Corey when the politician said this.

"Wait, what?!"

Soon Jackie was on the ramp wearing safety equipment.

"Guys, nobody told me that I had to do this!"

"Oh yeah!" Corey laughed sheepishly. "We forgot to mention that it's part of the rules."

He pulled out a book of rules and flipped to a page.

"It says right here that in the event of a tie, the final joust has to feature a non-band member who is very close to the band competing. And in this case, it's the manager!"

Jackie looked down and saw how high she was from the ground.

"But, I don't know if I can do this!"

"You have to!" Corey put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You have to do it for the school! You have to do it for the band! But most importantly…you have to do it for Kin."

Jackie looked behind her where Kin was lying on the stretcher out cold. She thought about it for a while and finally she made her decision.

"All right. I'll do it!"

"That's the spirit!" Corey smiled. "Go get em!"

"Wait!" Laney held Jackie back. "Jacks, we don't even have lyrics if you do win! We'll be booed out of here by your own school!"

Meanwhile, Tracy was still doing her best to keep Rick's spirits high.

"We got two points, Rick has a smile! Lay down Macy, let's dog pile! DO IT MACY!"

Macy dropped to the ground and all the other cheerleaders tackled her. Rick smiled for he was feeling confident again.

"Rick says school spirit's fun."

"I'm making Rick happy!" Tracy squealed. "Go whoever our team is!"

"Relax Lanes!" Corey said. "Tracy doesn't know she's cheering for us! All we have to do is win, then pop our helmets off! She'll go diary for sure!"

"Great plan Core!" Jackie got onto her stone. "I'm still a little nervous though…"

Jack was also getting onto his stone.

"Don't worry about a thing ladies." he reassured his band. "I'll make sure we win."

"Uh, Jack? I'm not a lady." Larry reminded the male manager.

Jack scoffed. "After the way you bailed on me and your band because of a girl? I'd say you're more lady than Jackie's bassist! I'll take it from here."

Jack started calling at his rival.

"It's over Matthews! You lose no matter what happens! You might as well forfeit and head home! Because even if you do get this point, your keyboardist is out of commission remember? He won't be playing for weeks! And me and the Newmans will win by default!"

Jack and Jackie started to slide down the ramps as Jack finished taunting.

"What do you say to that Ms. Manager?"

Jackie gasped and looked back at Kin. She clenched her fists in anger.

"Nobody…hurts…my…favorite…KEYBOARDIST!"

The brown-haired girl flew toward Jack and punched him hard in the face. Grojband and the Newmans gasped as Jackie continued to hit Jack. After a few punches and kicks, Jackie delivered the final blow knocking Jack down and she landed in the center. She breathed heavily in rage and the crowd went wild. Jack landed next to his band and Kim gasped in horror.

"Jack! NOOOOO!"

"Like yay and junk!" Tracy clapped her hands excitedly.

Corey, Laney, and Kon (who was dragging Kin's stretcher) met up with their manager and gave her a group hug.

"Yeah! You did it Jacks!" Corey complimented her.

"That was awesome!" Kon jumped up.

"Way to rage girlfriend!" Laney added.

The four of them heard groaning from behind them and saw that Kin was finally awake.

"Ugh…where am I? Did we win?"

"Kin!" Jackie squeezed him into a hug. "Are you okay?"

Kin saw that Jackie was hugging him and smiled.

"Oh Jackie…I'm better than okay!" he sighed happily.

Rick stood up from his seat.

"Rick says…" he took a breath. "Ahh…there's the spirit."

"Rick is at full spirit!" Tracy was overjoyed. "I'm so happy!"

Mayor Swellow came down from his rope and raised Jackie's hand in the air.

"This year's winners are… Jackie Matthews and Grojband!"

"Yeah! Let's hear it for-" Tracy stopped. "Wait, what?!"

"I tried to tell you." Macy said. "You're cheering for your sister!"

Jackie removed her helmet and faced Tracy.

"Thanks for the cheer sis. Couldn't have done it without you."

"I see." Tracy growled angrily.

The teenager shot up into the air surrounded by curling stones. She started writing in her diary which caused lightning to strike on the target center setting it on fire. When she was done, she slowly landed in the fire burning with rage. Rick came up to her smiling.

"Rick says Tracy needs to chill out." he held out a finger. "And Rick is cool enough to help."

He used his finger and coolness to turn the fire into ice leaving Tracy frozen stiff.

Grojband climbed onto the ice with their instruments, all except Kin who was being checked out by Jackie.

"Are you sure you can do this?" she asked. "Maybe you should lie down."

Kin stood up and picked up his keyboard.

"Oh, I'm fine!" hearts filled his eyes. "I think something has given me a newfound strength."

Kin joined his friends on the frozen stage and started playing with them.

_If there's a big old heap_

_We're on top of it_

_Wow, this hill is really steep_

_And we're the summit_

_You tried to stop us_

_With that trash you been talkin'_

_But you can't bring us down_

_Cause now this house is rockin'_

_We are victorious (unexpected!)_

_We are victorious _

_Victorious!_

The audience applauded and cheered as the song finished. Jack was now on Kin's stretcher which Kim was pushing toward the exit.

"Don't worry Jack!" Kim told her knocked out manager. "My love for you will heal all of your injuries!"

"Seriously?" Konnie shook her head. "You never learn."

Corey met up with his rival band.

"Sorry to rattle you girls." he said. "But extreme curling is our world!"

"I'm a boy!" Larry corrected him.

Carrie took Larry by the arm and dragged him away.

"Close it Larry!"

"Sigh…" Larry went.

After the celebration, the band headed home. Macy was dragging a freezing Tracy to her room while offering her some hot chocolate.

"Guys, it's wicked that we rocked that place." Laney said. "But, I'm pretty sore…"

"Totally!" Kon looked at his arm which was bent. "Is my arm supposed to have four elbows?"

"Well, I feel great!" Kin smiled at Jackie. "Especially since you stood up for me and got us the winning point."

"Anytime Kin." Jackie poked him in the nose. "I'm just happy that you're not hurt anymore."

Kin gasped and put a hand on his forehead.

"I think I'm gonna faint again…" he fell into Kon's arms sighing.

"And that's why we're done with sports." a spotlight appeared over Corey. "Sure sports gives you extra elbows and a strong spirit which comes in handy fighting your way through a nasty coma that makes you dream about love, but honestly, sports mainly just hurt. Really, really bad. And that's not good. Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**YAY! So now that this episode has been posted, all of the previous episodes that I mentioned before can now be added in. I have three more episode suggestions to fill so if you have a suggestion for one, please be patient. See you tomorrow!**


	15. Outer Disgrace

**Well, this weekend has been a busy one. I got four chapters written up in just a few days so I should be able to put them up every day this week. Also, I want to respond to two quick questions from guest reviewers. The first one is from Denner and he/she asks:**

**"can you do All you need is cake but with Kin and Jackie?"****  
**

**The second question is from Olivia and she asks:  
**

**"Why Hasn't anyone started feeling déjà vu?"****  
**

**I'm going to answer both of these questions at the same time. My answer for both of them is: check the previous chapters. The chapter for All You Need is Cake is already up and the answer to Olivia's question can be found in the author's notes of Chapter 4. This also goes for anyone who has a question that I have already answered or is about to suggest an episode I have already done. When in doubt, check different chapters and author's notes. I say this because I don't want to have to repeatedly respond to things that I have already explained. So in the future, before you ask anything in the reviews, read the author's notes first to see if the answer is there. Author's notes are always at the top and bottom of each chapter. If the notes don't answer your question, then that is when you may ask. Okay, that's all I have to say about that. The next chapter is based on "Space Jammin'" which was previously requested by Madison Wooten but couldn't be placed until "Rock the House" was put up. Now that it has, this episode can finally make its way in. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**Outer Disgrace**

Laney and Kon were in the garage watching a commercial on TV. The commercial was for a music festival known as Sludge Fest that was taking place that day. The band had wanted to perform their music there but unfortunately, other plans were made.

"This rots." Laney grumbled. "Sludge Fest is the muddiest outdoor music festival in town. And we're sitting here while The Newmans are playing it!"

Kon stood up from his chair.

"I just hope Jackie and Corey have gotten over it by now."

At that moment, Jackie had entered with Kin. The brown-haired girl had an angry scowl on her face as she stormed toward the dart board that had been hanging in the garage for a while. She placed a picture of her worst enemy, Jack Matterson, in the center and immediately started throwing darts at it.

"Hey Matthews!" Jackie imitated Jack. "My band is so much cooler than yours! Especially since we're going to be playing at Sludge Fest this year and guess what? You're not!"

Jackie growled angrily and held out her hand to Kin.

"Kin! Give me another dart."

Kin smiled with hearts in his eyes and handed her one from the box next to him.

"BIGGER!" Jackie ordered.

Kin's heart eyes disappeared as he quickly pulled out a humongous dart from the box for Jackie to throw. Jackie let out a furious scream as she tossed the dart at the target, breaking it completely.

"Whoa. If Jackie's this bad, I don't wanna know what Corey is like." Laney decided. "We gotta do something before our manager turns into a mini-version of her sister."

Kin walked over with something behind his back.

"No need to worry!" he said. "I've built something that will allow Corey and Jackie to forget the whole thing!"

The scientist held up a mallet.

"I give you…The Memory Eraser 500!"

"That's a rubber mallet." Kon observed.

"One whack…uh…'treatment'…and all memory of us being rejected will be gone! Allow me to demonstrate."

Kin raised the mallet over Jackie's head while she was too busy being angry to see him. The kid with glasses started sweating as he tried to move his arm and swing the mallet but his body was listening to his heart rather than his head.

"I can't do it." He sighed going back to the others. "I can't hurt the most gorgeous creature known to Tranquil Town. Even if it is for her own well-being. Kon, you do it."

Kon shrugged, taking the mallet. He was about to hit Jackie until Laney stopped him.

"Guys, Jacks and Core will be okay." She reassured the twins "It's not like they'll go crazy or anything."

Suddenly, headlights shined on the band as Corey entered the garage riding a giant tractor truck. The teenagers screamed but luckily, Corey stopped before he could hit them.

"Who's ready to mow away their pain?" the lead singer asked.

Laney looked over at Kin.

"'Treat' him twice."

"If we can't play Sludge Fest, we'll put on our own festival right next to it in the corn field!"

Jackie gasped, regaining hope.

"That's perfect! Now I don't have a reason to be mad anymore!"

"We don't know anything about running a music festival." Laney pointed out.

"It's simple Lanes." Corey began. "Step 1: Mow the corn field. Step 2: Rock out and become the biggest band ever!"

Tracy entered the garage after listening in to her least favorite band.

"I've been waiting in line for Sludge Fest with Rick Salary for a week!" Tracy smiled for a second. "It's been the best! And your noise is not gonna mess with that!"

"If you're in line, why are you here?" Jackie asked.

"Bathroom break." Tracy answered. "Those port-a-puddles are fine for Macy, but not a lady."

"You left Macy alone with Rick?" Jackie fake gasped. "What if he falls in love with her?"

Tracy was horrified as she started to imagine what was going on in line while she wasn't there.

"_Rick Salary's waited a long time to be cool in front of only you."_

_"Rick you're the sweetest! I'm so lucky Tracy left us…alone…"_

"Noooo!" Tracy screamed as she thought about the two sharing a kiss. She then remembered her sister was there and got over it.

"I mean, whatevs. I don't want your 'music' ruining my peaceful weekend of muddy loudness!"

Corey blasted the horn on the tractor and the other band members climbed into the back.

"Hear the horn, time to mow corn!" the blue-haired band leader started the engine but then Tracy opened the engine and threw a wrench inside.

The five friends screamed as the tractor started moving out of control and out of the garage. Tracy gave a winning smile.

"Sabotage is so satisfying!"

The tractor sped toward the corn field mowing down anything in its path. Jackie and Grojband fell out of the tractor but it kept going.

"Wow! Look how fast it's mowing!" Corey exclaimed.

"Too bad it's not in a straight line." Laney noted.

"C'mon what mower do you want?"

"That's a quarter in the pun jar!"

Kin looked up at the sky.

"I wonder what the field looks like from space."

Just then, a giant spaceship landed right in the middle of the corn field. The door to the spaceship opened releasing a cloud of blue smoke.

"It's happening!" Kon clapped with excitement as four different colored orbs floated toward the band.

"I am G'ORB." The blue colored orb said. "You have challenged us mighty aliens to a battle of the bands and we accept!"

"Challenge battle of the what now?" Jackie was confused.

"Your challenge is written in this field." G'ORB explained. "In the crop you call corn."

"That was an accident!" Corey claimed.

"I see. Probably for the best." G'ORB and the other orbs started to float back into their spaceship. "You would have been defeated anyway. Better to heed your puny human fear."

This comment was enough to get Corey mad.

"Hey! Nothing about my human fear is puny!"

"Then orb up and prove it!" G'ORB insisted. "Tonight! In front of a human crowd!"

"Fine!" Corey shouted. "It's on!"

G'ORB laughed evilly following the other orbs back into the ship. Before they left, G'ORB looked back.

"Oh, and if you lose, we'll destroy your world!"

With that, the four orbs blasted off in their spaceship.

"Destroy the world?!" Laney panicked looking at Corey. "What did you do? We don't even have lyrics! We're so toast!"

Corey smiled full of guilt while at the same time, the orbs were having a similar conversation in their ship.

"What did you do?" the purple orb known as T'ORB asked the leader. "We do not even have lyrics! We are so glanknarggle!"

"Oh, you always have to play the big, bad alien accepting challenges!" the green orb known as Z'ORB complained. "Challenges we always lose!"

"How are we gonna play human instruments without meat limbs?" N'ORB, the pink orb asked.

"And what about lyrics?" T'ORB reminded G'ORB. "Humans do not flash the way us orbs do! They use words!"

"Yeah, we are totally glanknarggle!" Z'ORB added.

"Not necessarily." G'ORG flashed. "It is abduction time!"

Back on earth, Laney was scolding Corey for what he just did.

"And those are the top 20 reasons why this is a bad idea!" the red-haired girl finished.

"But we have home planet advantage Lanes!" Corey pointed out. "They don't even have hands!"

"Technically, you guys are from a different world." Jackie realized. "So this isn't really your home planet."

Kin smiled surrounded by hearts.

"But it's where we live with you. That counts doesn't it?"

"Oh yeah!"

Kon was following his bandmates from behind until he felt as if he was being pulled up into the air.

"Huh?"

The orbs noticed that Kon wasn't being pulled into their ship. G'ORB turned to Z'ORB.

"Did you not fix the abducto-circle?"

"It was gonna cost an arm and a leg!" Z'ORB explained. "And I couldn't pay!"

"That's a quad in the pun receptacle." T'ORB told his fellow orb.

"I'll go get the ladder." G'ORB floated into another room on the ship.

Once Kon was in their ship, the orbs strapped him to a specimen table.

"Tell us how to write music words or face the probe!" G'ORB threatened.

"You'll never break me!" Kon replied.

The orbs proceeded to shove a ton of sharp objects in the drummer's face. Kon screamed and immediately gave in.

"We don't write lyrics!" Kon started crying. "We steal them from Jackie's sister, Tracy! I'll tell you everything!"

Z'ORB entered wearing an apron.

"Oh! There's my mixer! Now I can get started on those pancakes!"

**PANCAKES COME FROM OUTER SPACE!**

Jackie and the other three band members meanwhile, had yet to find out that Kon was gone. At least until Kin stopped walking.

"Hey, we haven't spun around to see if Kon was missing yet. We should."

"Yeah…" Corey nodded.

"We really should." Laney agreed.

"Good idea Kin." Jackie said as she and the others turned around.

When they looked behind them, Kon fell from the sky and landed on his face. He spat out some dirt as Jackie helped him up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah! The orbs were really nice!" Kon informed the manager.

The other band members sighed with relief.

"Once I told em all about Tracy and how they could get lyrics from her diary like we do!"

"What?!" Laney went. "Kon, we need Tracy's diary!"

"It's okay Lanes." Corey remained calm. "It's not like they know who Tracy is."

"Or where she is!" Jackie added.

"Well, I kinda showed em a photo of Tracy, and said where she was, and gave them a recipe for my boysenberry pie." Kon smiled sheepishly.

"Kon!" Jackie facepalmed. "How could you?!"

"It's not my fault their pancakes were so delicious."

"We can't let them get the diary before we do or Earth is gonezo!" Corey cried. "We need to find Tracy! To Sludge Fest!"

Macy and Rick were still in line at the festival. Rick reached into his pocket and offered something to Macy.

"Gum?"

"Yes it is!" Macy took the gum and laughed at her own joke.

The red-haired nerdette felt something on her arm and she was pulled away from the hunk. She found out that it was Tracy who took her out of the line.

"Did you just take gum from Rick Salary?" Tracy questioned. "What else did you take? Did you take his heart and make it beat for you and stuff?"

Tracy got up in her friend's face and screamed.

"YOU'RE STEALING HIM FROM ME!"

"I just wanna support my brother, Jack, and see his band play a show!" Macy convinced the angry teen. "Don't be mad at me."

"An 'I', a 'my', and a 'me' in one dialogue block." Tracy counted on her fingers. "Selfish much?"

The Newmans were backstage prepping for the show.

"Okay Newmans," Carrie said in a motivating tone. "Are we ready to rock or are we ready to roll?"

"We're both Carrie!" Konnie responded while brushing her blonde hair.

The orbs watched the three girls and one boy from their hiding spots in the spotlights.

"These 'The Newmans' seem like suitable husks." T'ORB noted. "We must begin a delicate body-snatching procedure-"

G'ORB jumped out of his hiding spot before T'ORB could finish.

"CORPBLORB JANKORB!"

"Oh!" T'ORB groaned. "He has the patience of a tetrahedron!"

The other orbs followed G'ORB as he landed inside Carrie's skull.

"Yipes!" the female guitarist screeched as she and the other band members were taken over.

All four Newmans' eyes changed into the color of the orb that possessed them.

G'ORB used his new hands and put them to his new head.

"This human's brain tells me its manager's sister, Macy, is under the command of Tracy! And with her at all times!"

Jack entered the backstage area carrying his clipboard.

"All right Newmans! Let's get this show on the road!"

The brown-haired boy stopped when he saw how different his band looked.

"Uh guys? What's going on?"

G'ORB used Carrie's body to get up in Jack's face.

"You! Puny human manager! Where is the one you call your sister?" he demanded.

Jack looked nervous and confused.

"Uh, she's outside in line with her friend." He answered.

"Excellent!" G'ORB exclaimed. "Contact her immediately!"

"Okay, why would you want to talk to my si-"

"I SAID IMMEDIATELY YOU WORM!"

Jack pulled out his phone and dialed Macy's number. She and Tracy were still in line with Rick and Tracy was flirting with him.

"Rick, waiting in line with you…" she glanced at Macy. "Alone…for a whole week has been the awesomest! Don't you think?"

Macy heard her phone ring and answered it.

"Hey Jack!" Macy greeted her younger brother. "Uh, Tracy's right here."

"SUCCESS!" Macy heard a voice in the background.

"Uh, Jack? Who's that with you?"

Suddenly, the orbs' spaceship flew down to where Tracy was. G'ORB came out in Carrie's body and took Tracy away.

"Tracy!" Macy yelped. "Rick! Help!"

"Macy!" Tracy called from above. "Don't talk to Riiiick!"

Jackie and Grojband entered the scene.

"Macy! Where's Tracy?" Jackie asked her sister's BFF.

"My brother's lead singer just pulled her into a huge spaceship and flew away so…maybe check the mall?"

"Attention human life forms! We have disgusting human meat shells, and the source of all human music!" G'ORB held up Tracy's diary. "Observe as we defeat Grojband, your beloved champions!"

"They've got the bodies of our worst enemies and Tracy's diary! We're done for!" Corey shook Jackie. "Jackie! PANIC WITH ME!"

Jackie gently pushed her favorite guitarist off of her.

"Core, it's your genius that turns the diary into lyrics. All those stupid orbs have is a book of secret angst."

"You're right!" Corey said finally calm. "They have the cereal, but they don't have the milk!"

"Their lyrics will be so dry, they'll shred the roofs of their mouths!" Kon said.

"You mean those flashy zig-zag lines count as their mouths?" Laney asked.

"Okay guys! I have a plan!" Jackie pulled her friends into a huddle. "If we let Tracy watch the orbs sing her diary and expose her feelings in front of everyone, she'll lose it! And you'll have new lyrics to save Earth!"

Kin had hearts in his eyes. "Your ideas are the best…"

The two bands took their places on stage as Tracy made her way back to her crush and best friend.

"Hey, what happened?" Macy asked. "Where did you go?"

"I don't know!" Tracy was scared. "But there were pancakes."

The Orbmans were up first. G'ORB used Carrie's body to talk into the microphone.

"Welcome to our battle inferior beings! We are the Orb Experience! And now, behold the song that will doom your world!" he opened up Tracy's diary. "I call it: Entry 4987: My Secret Fear and Junk!"

"What?!" Jack flipped through the pages of his clipboard. "Carrie! What are you doing? That's not the song we rehearsed!"

"Quiet filthy biped!" G'ORB yelled.

T'ORB started to play the drums in Konnie's body while G'ORB read and sang from the diary.

_Dear diary,_

_I'm the prettiest ever_

_But even the prettiest have ugly secrets_

_Let me open my heart to you and admit my secret fear and junk_

When Tracy heard these words, she was outraged.

_I'm scared Rick will like Macy_

_More than me_

Macy looked over at Tracy and gave her a guilty smile. Tracy growled and glared at Macy.

_And without him to bandage my bleeding heart,_

_I'll be alone forever and stuff_

_Thanks for listening diary_

_XOXO Hugs!_

"Beat that Grojband!" G'ORB taunted.

Jackie smiled and glanced over at Tracy.

"I wrote that…" Tracy felt like crying.

"Why did my brother's lead singer read your diary?" Macy wondered. "And do you really think Rick would ever like me more than you?"

Tracy was very angry until Rick spoke up.

"Rick can imagine how embarrassed you are."

Tracy made a fake smile at the hunk.

"What a joke!" Tracy laughed nervously. "So funny, right?"

Tracy started to laugh insanely. Grojband and Jackie smiled over at the Orbmans as the sky filled with storm clouds. Tracy's crazy laughter continued and then she shot into the sky with a blast of mud, an angry scowl on her face. She was surrounded by stalks of corn. She summoned her diary and wrote in it. This caused the corn in the fields to pop and the cows to get blasted into the air with mud. Tracy then returned to normal, landing in the mud, while Corey caught her diary.

"You said 'beat that' right?" he said to G'ORB.

Kin started the song with his keyboard.

_My secret is out_

_But I'm not gonna cry or pout_

_I'm gonna show em all_

_What I'm all about_

_And turn this whisper into a shout (Shout!)_

_Cause my secret is out! All out! (Out!)_

_If our minds can't be erased_

_At least we'll kick your butts back to outer space_

_Cause it's our turn to rule the stage_

_So don't get in our way_

_We'll either win this thing_

_Or destroy the human race_

_Playing like we've never played or rocked a killer show (Show!)_

_Cuz if we don't we're all toast (Toast!)_

The crowd cheered loudly which determined that Grojband was the winner. G'ORB looked down in defeat and faced Jackie.

"Fine. You win meat pile." He said. "Your band is the champion of this world."

"Thanks!" Jackie smiled. "They totally know them already. But I'll tell them that."

G'ORB looked at his bandmates.

"All right Orbs. Let's get outta here."

So the orbs popped out of the Newmans' bodies and floated back to their spaceship.

"I don't suppose I need to say 'I told you so'?" Z'ORB guessed.

"Oh yeah?" G'ORB remarked. "Well, your pancakes are dry!"

And that was the last the band saw of the orbs…at least for now that is. Jack came onto the stage writing something on his clipboard.

"Well, this gig was a total bust." He said. "Okay guys. Let's head home…guys?"

Jack looked down and saw that his band was fast asleep.

"Aw c'mon!" he groaned. "Why do I always have to do everything myself?"

The manager grabbed a wheelbarrow and put all of his band members inside it. Then he pulled them all away.

"So Core, still think battling alien life forms was a good idea?" Laney asked the band leader.

"Of course Lanes! We won!" a spotlight shined on Corey. "But we really shouldn't be battling other bands. The only real battle should be with the band inside ourselves. The one beating the drums of our large intestines and playing the guitar strings of our hearts. When you challenge that band, you're always a mighty champion."

Laney gazed into her crush's eyes.

"Core! Those are great lyrics!"

"Yeah you had them inside you the whole time?" Jackie pointed out.

"I guess so! Now we don't need Tracy's dia-"Corey belched loudly in Laney's face. "Never mind. It was just indigestion."

Laney glared at him and then looked at Jackie.

"Ugh, boys!"

"Tell me about it." Jackie nodded as Kin looked up at her smiling.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**As I said before, the next three chapters have already been written so the next one will be up tomorrow. Before I forget, there is one more episode that I would like to have on hold for a later time. I know I said that all the episodes featuring The Newmans could now be placed but I actually want to save "Kon-fusion" for somewhere near the end. I won't say the exact reason but I will say that it has to do with relationships. See you tomorrow with another chapter!**


	16. The Bad Seed

**Hey guys! Yeah, I know I said I was going to upload another chapter a few days ago, but time ran away from me and I couldn't. But anyway, this chapter is based on "One Plant Band" which was requested by AvrilLavigneFan2001. She actually requested two episodes so the next one (hopefully) will be out tomorrow. In the meantime, hope you like this one! Also hope you like my "Little Shop of Horrors" reference in there. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**The Bad Seed**

"Yo! Salad Billy here!" Billy said on the TV. "To tell yous guys about my new Salad Billy's location! It's wicked vegan! Grand opening tomorrow night!"

Laney, Kin, and Kon were watching the commercial in the garage.

"Hey Kiiinnn?" Kon sang.

"Yes Kooonnn?" Kin sang back.

Kon poked his brother on the nose.

"Know who's gonna be at that new opening?"

"Why, yes I do." Kin nodded. "Not us! Cause it's-"

The twins zipped out of the room and came back wearing cheese costumes.

"CHEESE FEST!"

Corey and Jackie entered the garage at that moment.

"Hey, hey cheeseheads!" Corey greeted. "Put your curds away cause we're playing the grand opening of Salad Billy's tomorrow night!"

"Yeah, what could be better than that?" Jackie said.

"Cheese?" Kin guessed.

"Cheesy, cheese cheese?" Kon added.

"Hey, nice costumes guys!" Jackie complimented the twins. "Very well done."

Hearts filled Kin's eyes.

"You really think so?" he chuckled. "Thanks. Gouda's my favorite."

"Eww…I hate gouda." Jackie gagged.

"My favorite is cheddar!" Kon exclaimed.

"Hey, what a coincidence! Mine is too! Cheddar rocks!"

Kin growled in jealousy.

"I know what could be better." Laney said after thinking over Corey's previous question. "Cooking up a tasty new tune with a side order of lyrics."

Corey put an arm around his bassist.

"If by that you mean Grojband's going…VEGAN! Then yes."

"Uh, actually I-"

"Vegan bands aren't getting the street cred they deserve!" Corey explained. "And Grojband's gonna change some if not all of that!"

Tracy burst through the door with Macy following her. She was carrying a potted plant.

"Street cred? More like street crud!" Tracy remarked. "BAM!"

"Bam indeed!" Macy nodded.

"Listen up Fromojband!" Tracy opened the fridge and put her plant inside. "I'm leaving my science project in the garage. Because it's like you; gross and junk. If you worms touch my plant thingy and it's not hand-in-able for a major A-super-plus, YOU'RE ALL MULCH! Got it?"

When Tracy walked away, Laney hissed like an angry cat.

"Uh, I suggest you get it." Macy said following Tracy.

Jackie decided to forget about her sister and focus on the task at hand.

"Okay gang! If you're gonna play Billy's tomorrow, you need to practice your whole set list! It might take all night."

"Yeah, yeah!" Corey shrugged. "We'll get to it. But first, to celebrate our new vegan lifestyle, here's some narration worthy grilled cheese sandwiches!"

Corey pulled out a plate with a whole stack of sandwiches on it.

"Cheese…" Kin and Kon drooled.

"Ooh…" Jackie reached for one and at the same time, so did Kin. Jackie looked down and realized that her and Kin's hands were touching.

"You have beautiful eyes." Kin smiled.

Jackie was oblivious. "And you have something stuck in your teeth…"

Kin quickly pulled out a mirror and started picking through his teeth.

Soon Beanie Boy, Klutzy Nerd, and the Big Ball of Lard started chowing down on grilled cheese sandwiches and junk. The way they ate them was so gross and to make matters worse, they were singing some lame song to go along with it or whatever.

_Grilled cheese sammy_

_When you can't eat hammy_

_Suck em down by the kill Grammy_

_Cheese, cheese yeah!_

_Cheese, cheese yeah!_

_Cheese, cheese yeah!_

Seriously? Some of those aren't even real words! But I guess it doesn't matter. Because this is the perfect opportunity to ruin Grojband's stupid gig! MUAHAHAHAHA!

Hey, wait a minute! I didn't write this! Who's been using my keyboard? Oh well…guess I'll keep writing.

After the boys had finished eating all the grilled cheese sandwiches, they were stuffed. They all sat down on the couch and farted. Laney came up to them.

"That was awesome Core, but vegans don't eat cheese."

"They don't?!" Corey sat up. "I didn't really research what vegan meant."

Jackie took a look at the sandwich in her hand and tossed it.

"Well, at least we know now. It would have been awful if someone saw us eating the wrong things!"

"Totally!" Corey agreed. "Now let's rock that practice!"

The band got on stage and Corey counted them in.

"1, 2, 3, 4!"

The band started rocking out a tune while Jackie sat from her chair and listened. Little did they know, the music blasting on the stereo made its way into the fridge where Tracy's plant was sitting. The plant heard the music and grew a little bit. The band continued rehearsing for their gig for the rest of the day until it got dark. The plant was growing even more. Jackie looked at her clipboard and found that the band's set was finished.

"Awesome practice guys…" she tried to keep her eyes open. She then saw that all four of her friends were asleep on the stage.

"Good idea." Jackie yawned and soon she was asleep too.

While the five slept, the fridge door slowly opened. A long vine slithered across the garage floor and made its way over to where Corey's guitar was. The vine strummed the instrument for it was really starting to love the sound.

The next morning, Kon woke up to the sound of loud music. He got up from where he was sleeping and gasped at the first thing he saw. He immediately started to shake Kin awake.

"Kin! Wake up! You gotta see this!"

Kin was mumbling in his sleep.

"Jackie Matthews…would you like to become Jackie Kujira?"

Kon rolled his eyes realizing that Kin was having one of those dreams. He lifted up his foot and gave his brother a good kick.

"Ow!" Kin was finally awake. "Dude! What the heck? I was in the middle of a great dream! Jackie and I were gonna get married and everything!"

Kon tilted Kin's head to the side and he was shocked by what was in front of him. Laney woke up too.

"What's going on gu-whoa…"

Jackie tapped her foot in her sleep.

"Man, you guys sound great."

Corey opened his eyes and gasped. He quickly shook Jackie awake.

"Jacks! That's not us!"

Jackie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked toward her right. Her eyes snapped open when she found out that the music was coming from a mutant plant who was playing all of the band's instruments with its vines.

"No way…" Jackie muttered.

"Kin? Drop some science on me." Corey scratched his chin. "What's going on?"

Kin thought about it.

"Well, I have heard that plants can grow more quickly if you play music to them, but I've never heard of a plant playing music to itself!"

Tracy came into the garage with Macy.

"Gasp!" she went. "What did you twerps do to my plant?!"

The teenager grabbed a rake and held it in the air.

"That's it! You're mulch!"

"W-w-wait Tracy!" Macy stopped her friend. "The project was to make the plant grow!"

Tracy smiled and put down the rake.

"So I made science happen?"

"Correction!" Corey said. "We made music happen!"

Jackie nodded. "And they're totally ready to rock their gig at Salad Billy's!"

Tracy took out her phone.

"Oh, you mean that totally lamoid gig that I just ruined for you?"

Jackie's phone rang and she answered it.

"Jackie! What gives?" it was Billy's voice on the other end. "Somebody just texted me a story about your band eatin' grilled cheese sandwiches!"

Jackie couldn't believe what she heard.

"I thought your band was vegan! I dunno, maybe I should find another band."

"No, wait!" Jackie put her phone on speaker so the others could listen. "Grojband is vegan! So vegan they don't even know what the rules are!"

"Well, I ain't never heard of that before. Because it's crazy. But if you wanna keep this gig, you and your band are gonna need to prove you're vegan! You can start by cutting the cheese…out of your act!"

"Consider it cut!" Jackie hung up and looked back at Tracy. "What'd you do that for?!"

"Because you have to stay here and watch my plant while I don't." Tracy explained.

"How'd you even know that we were eating cheese?"

"Who do you think wrote your grody little cheese narration?"

…Well, that explains a lot.

Tracy left with Macy and Jackie glared at her sister. But Laney was more angry with her than she was.

"I'll take care of her project all right!" Laney started chasing the plant with the rake.

"Stop!" Corey cried. "We have to prove we're vegan! What better way than to have an actual plant in the band?"

Laney cornered the plant against Tracy's car.

"I don't know Core…"

"C'mon Lanes!" Corey convinced the red-head. "It heard us play our entire set list! Show er Planty!"

Corey handed the plant his guitar but the plant tossed it away.

"You don't need no manufactured sounds." The plant said handing the band some new instruments. "Music should flow naturally."

"Wow thanks!" Corey admired his new instrument. "And you can talk?!"

The plant put one of its vines on Corey's shoulder.

"Not only can I talk friend, but I can show you the natural ways of the vegans."

"Whoa!" Jackie stood awed. "This reminds me of a Broadway musical I just saw! It's about this nerd, who makes his plant grow by feeding it blood, so in return the plant makes this super beautiful girl fall in love with him!"

"Heh, that's weird." Kin blushed. "I had a dream that was just like that last night. With a beautiful girl and everything."

"Really? Who was she Kin?" Jackie asked as hearts surrounded Kin.

"Oh…it doesn't matter…" Kin giggled.

Laney glanced at the instrument in her hand.

"Core, you sure this is a good idea?"

"Not a good idea Lanes. A wicked awesome idea! That rules. As a matter of factual, we should all go natural!"

Corey then took a pair of jeans to the face. It turned out Kon had taken off all of his clothes and ran out of the garage.

"WOOHOO!" Kon shouted while running into the neighborhood.

"Kon!" Jackie called to her drummer. "That's not what he meant by natural! Ugh…"

"Shall we begin the training?" the plant asked Corey.

"C'mon guys!" Corey encouraged. "New clothes, new food, new state of mind! Let's veganize Grojband!"

"Okay Core." Jackie nodded. "But first, we should catch Kon before he starts flashing people. Again…"

Jackie, Laney, and Kin went out to search for Kon. Corey was about to catch up with them but he was pulled back into the garage and pinned down by the plant.

"Oh…" he muttered. "We're in a whole lot of trouble aren't we?"

"You have no idea." The plant opened its mouth and sprayed a green smog all over the singer.

When Corey opened his eyes, he felt different. He felt happy. The plant had used its powers to hypnotize him!

Later after the band found Kon and convinced him to put his clothes back on, the plant took them all to the supermarket for vegan foods. Corey followed the plant willingly and his eyes had swirls in them. Kin and Kon stopped when they saw an aisle filled with hot dogs. The twins were about to indulge on the meat treats but the plant stopped them and pointed to the aisle next to it: the vegetable aisle. That aisle was dark and gloomy and had crying children in it. The twins sadly obeyed the plant and followed Corey into the aisle. The plant had one of its vines on Corey leaving Laney and Jackie suspicious. Afterwards, they headed to the clothing store for some new clothes. The plant wanted them to wear a special outfit made out of cotton and leaves. Unfortunately, Kon's was too tight and almost choked him, Kin's was too loose and his pants kept falling down, and Laney's made her itch. And even though Jackie's outfit fit fine and wasn't that itchy, she didn't like the style of it. Corey's outfit on the other hand, fit perfectly and for some reason he loved it. The plant licked its vine and rubbed something off Corey's face. The others just glanced at each other worriedly and shrugged. Kin's pants fell down again and Jackie could see his underwear. The boy with glasses covered himself and blushed. Then the plant took them outside so they could learn yoga. Kin was trying hard to painfully lift his leg over his head while Kon stretched out his back. But then his back went out and he accidentally farted in Kin's face causing him to faint. Laney had gotten herself all tangled up while Jackie glanced over at Corey. He was in a perfect yoga position. Jackie's suspicion grew larger.

**VEGANIZED TRANSITION!**

Back at the garage, Corey was laid out on a bean bag chair listening to the plant's natural music. The other four teens were outside the garage.

"What gives?" Kon said. "It's like Corey's into that plant's sound more than our own!"

"Ever since that plant showed up, Corey and Grojband have been growing further apart." Kin noted.

"I know." Jackie folded her arms. "He hasn't been himself lately. This is just like that Broadway play."

Just then, Corey floated up to his band mates.

"Hello friends." He smiled scaring the others. "The plant and I have been chatting. And we have a few ideas of how we can 'naturalize' Grojband's sound."

"The plant is ruining the band!" Laney told the boy. "None of this is us!"

"Yeah Corey!" Jackie agreed. "As manager of Grojband, I cannot allow a plant to make the rules!"

"I know it's a big change." Corey said. "But being vegan means wearing leaves for clothes and never using soap for some reason."

"No!" Laney yelled. "Being vegan is just not eating or using any animal products!"

"Laney! What is it with you and being right all the time?" Corey got in the bassist's face. "Man!"

Laney felt her heart pop out of her chest and rip apart while tears filled her eyes. Kin and Kon peeked inside the garage and gasped when they saw the plant spraying Corey with green smog. Jackie was hugging a crying Laney while patting her back comfortably.

"I know. It's okay. Love can be painful."

"Laney!" Kin took the red-head from Jackie and shook her rapidly. "Can't you see? It's the plant man! The plant!"

He smacked Laney across the face.

"It's got him under some sort of spell!"

"Spell?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah! It must be using some sort of hypnotic plant pollen on him!"

"That explains why he's been acting so strange!" Jackie realized.

"We gotta get him to sneeze it out!" Laney decided before punching Kin in the face after he smacked her.

Kon immediately started rubbing a cat on Corey's face.

"Way ahead of ya!"

Corey's eyes turned red and watery and his nose was tinted red. He sneezed loudly and the pollen blasted out of his nose. Jackie came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay Core?"

Corey rubbed his head. "I feel weird…and what's with the lame-o new age music?"

Kon tilted Corey's head to the side and he saw the plant was making the sounds.

"Nature plays her own music." It said.

"Yeah, that's not gonna work." Corey confronted his former master. "This is our music. We play it. We're the band."

The other four kids did cool poses and glared at the fly trap.

"That's where you're wrong my friend!" the plant started growing even more. "The music is mine! Soon the whole world will hear my natural waves! They'll all grow to love the new Grojband!"

The plant's vines sprouted pods with each one of the band member's faces on it.

"Hey Jacks?" Laney looked toward her manager. "What exactly happened at the end of that play you saw?"

Jackie shivered with fear. "Uh, the plant ate everybody and took over the world?"

"Think this is where that applies."

The plant grabbed all five of them with its vines and tied them up.

**EVIL PLANT TRANSITION!**

A few hours later, Tracy and Macy returned and were terrified to see the garage overrun with vines and leaves. Tracy saw her sister and the band tied up and stormed over to her angrily.

"Where is my plant project?!"

"I know where he is!" Jackie promised then smiled. "But we'll need a ride. And you know, some hedge trimmers?"

Tracy snarled at the manager but she went along with her plan anyway by driving her enemies to Salad Billy's. When they arrived, Tracy tossed them out of her car and into the restaurant. There was a thick green smog in the air and the plant was onstage playing its music with the pod versions of the band. Everyone in the restaurant was hypnotized, even Grojband's groupies, Kelsey and Alyssa!

"We're too late!" Kin wailed. "Everyone's already under its spell!"

"Core, what are we gonna do?" Laney asked.

"We're gonna grab some fresh lyrics and rock this crowd back to its senses!" Corey declared.

"How you gonna get Tracy to write in her diary now Core?" Laney questioned.

"Don't worry Laney!" Jackie reassured her favorite red-haired bassist. "I've got a crazy plan that just might work!"

"Hey!" Corey pointed a finger at his manager. "That's my line!"

**STOLEN LINE TRANSITION!**

Jackie came out of the kitchen disguised as a waitress.

"Hey Planty!" she called out. "Come in here for no good reason!"

"No good reason?" the plant chuckled. "That's reason enough for me!"

The plant came into the kitchen and Jackie followed it from behind.

"One extra-large salad!" Jackie ordered. "And make it choppy!"

Grojband revealed themselves in chef outfits holding sharp knives.

"I'm in a lot of trouble aren't I?" the plant guessed as the band took him away.

"You have no idea." Corey repeated what the plant said to him.

They all got to work slicing the plant into little bits. Tracy came into the kitchen and when she saw what had happened, she went into a panic.

"My project!" she gasped. "I'm gonna totally fail!"

"No biggie." Jackie smiled. "You just have to repeat the course. Of course, you'll be in my grade where I'm popular!"

Tracy shuddered at the thought of having to share a classroom with her sister.

"MACY!"

"Yeah, Macy's not in this grade remember? She moved on with hunky Rick Salary."

Jackie sipped from a cup of soda.

"Alone."

Tracy was starting to turn red as Jackie took another sip from her drink.

"Without you!"

Tracy blasted into the air surrounded by vegetables. She summoned her diary and wrote flames inside of it. The sky around Salad Billy's turned red and the stoves automatically turned on. All of the boiling pots in the kitchen sprayed hot water out of them and a bunch of well-cooked fries landed on a plate. Tracy held out her pen finally finished and went back to normal. Corey caught the teenager's diary as usual.

Macy zipped up to her best friend with hope in her eyes.

"You screamed something about me holding hands with Rick Salary." She clamped her hands together. "Do you think that could really happen?"

Tracy didn't respond and instead poured a pitcher of water over Macy's head.

Jackie, meanwhile, had set the band up on stage.

"Hello fellow vegans!" Corey greeted into the microphone. "We are the real Grojband!"

The band started playing another song.

_Yeah!_

_Yeah!_

_Ain't gonna get left behind_

_Ain't gonna get tossed away_

_Ain't gonna wilt on a vine_

_Are you hearing what we gotta say?_

_(Yeah!) Are you ready for a big sound bite?_

_(Yeah!) Are you working up an appetite?_

_(Yeah!) Are you ready for a fresh new taste?_

As the band sang, all of the people in Billy's restaurant returned to normal. Jackie served one of the tables the remains of the evil plant.

_Cause we're gettin' down_

_And we're uppin' up the pace_

_(Yeah!) Are you ready for the main course?_

_(Here comes the main course!)_

_(Yeah!) Are you ready for a protein source?_

_(Good source of protein!)_

_(Yeah!) Cause we're serving up what we do_

_And we're dishing out way mooooooorrrree_

_Yeah!_

_Than you can chew!_

All of the people in the restaurant screamed excitedly. Later, when the place cleared out, the gang started packing up their instruments.

"Now that was a way better ending than that play!" Jackie exclaimed.

"Great job!" Billy told them. "You guys is really up to game with that there encore!"

"Thanks Billy." Corey grinned. "But I gotta admit, we're not really a vegan band."

"Whaaa?" the millionaire stood shocked.

"But that's okay." A spotlight shined on Corey. "What really matters is just being true to yourself. And not changing in the wind or storm. Or an evil plant that wants to rule the world."

The spotlight went away and so did Billy who didn't understand a word Corey had said.

"Uh, yeah…sure kid."

Jackie held out her phone excitedly.

"Guys! I just booked you a gig at Chapman's Cheese Cottage!"

Kin gasped and embraced the brown-haired girl with hearts in his eyes.

"Is she awesome or what?"

He and Kon put on their cheese costumes.

"Let's get cheesy!" they shouted together.

"We just did!" Corey pointed out. "Thanks for coming out everyone!"

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**I have three more episodes to fill out so if you have a suggestion, it may take a while for me to get to it. Also, just a reminder that the rules of fast reviews still apply. If you want the next chapter sooner, please leave reviews for me. Your feedback really helps me keep going. See you later!**


	17. Stink or Swim

**This is AvrilLavigneFan2001's second requested episode, which is based off of "Bee Bop a Loofah". Really like the song in this one, it's hilarious! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 17**

**Stink or Swim**

Mayor Swellow was on TV wearing a work-out outfit while running down the streets of Tranquil Town.

"Do you like to run but hate to lose?" the mayor asked the viewers panting. "Then don't fall behind! Just run in one place!"

It was revealed that Swellow was actually running on a treadmill in front of a moving background.

"The Tranquil Town's Stationary Marathon is in two weeks! Every place is first place!"

Corey, Jackie, and Laney were on the couch watching the commercial.

"So, is Grojband gonna enter the Stationary Marathon because running in place is our new destiny?" Laney asked Corey.

"Lanes that would never work!" Corey scoffed.

The garage door opened and Kin and Kon came in, Kon carrying a huge crate filled with tiny Christmas wreaths.

"I can't believe I got all these air fresheners for our magic jelly beans!" Kon exclaimed.

Kin folded his arms looking angry.

"I can't believe you traded our magic jelly beans for air fresheners!" Kin scolded. "They were magic!"

Kon pulled out a few of the air fresheners.

"But these smell like Christmas!" he gave a good sniff and sighed blissfully. Jackie took some too.

"I love the smell of Christmas! It's so…evergreeny…" she held the air fresheners close to her face.

Kin walked up to the manager love-struck.

"Yeah, I guess Christmas smells nice." He hugged Jackie tightly. "But it doesn't compare to how good you smell Jackie."

Jackie sniffed and gagged, pushing Kin away.

"Uh, no offense Kin." She plugged her nose. "But, you could use a shower. You kind of smell like…pickles…"

"Huh?" Kin sniffed his underarm and gave a horrified gasp when he found out that Jackie was right. His glasses cracked at his own horrible scent.

The keyboardist shrieked and ran to where Kon was. He grabbed his twin brother by the shirt collar and shook him.

"Kon! We gotta wash up! I can't stink in front of Jackie!" He grabbed Kon by the hand and dragged him out of the garage. "To the bathtub!"

Laney was having a conversation with Corey.

"It's just, you usually see something and suddenly decide we're gonna do it…"

Corey interrupted his bassist. "It's not always so sudden."

That's when the three friends heard beautiful singing from upstairs.

"Speaking of sudden," the guitarist looked at the ceiling. "Where's that angelic singing coming from?"

"Sounds like it's coming from the bathroom!" Jackie guessed. "Let's check it out!"

So they all walked upstairs to Jackie's bathroom to find Kin and Kon singing while taking a bath. When the twins saw their band mates at the door, they immediately stopped singing. Kin gasped and hid under the water. He stuck his head out and blushed.

"Jackie! Don't look at me! I'm naked!"

"Oh Kin! Calm down!" Jackie reassured her fan boy. "You're way deep in the water. There's no way I can see your…you-know-what…"

"It's not that I'm worried about you seeing…" Kin had a deep red complexion.

Kon smiled wickedly, realizing that it was the perfect opportunity to humiliate his brother in front of his crush.

"Oh, you mean the fact that you have…" Kon grabbed Kin's arm and lifted his torso out of the water. "No nipples?!"

Kin gasped and covered his chest but Jackie had already figured it out.

"You don't have nipples?" Jackie questioned. "Weird."

"Uh…well…see, it's a long story…" Kin mumbled. "See, they're actually…"

"Here on my back!" Kon finished turning around and showing off his back nipples. Jackie put a hand to her mouth feeling the bile rising.

"I didn't need to see that…" she gagged.

"I'm more shocked by how good you guys sound in here!" Laney noted.

"Yeah…" Corey screeched loudly causing a bird outside to explode. "The acoustics in here are amazing! What a performance space! This is gonna be our new thing!"

"You yelling at us in the tub?" Kin was confused.

"Shower music!" Corey corrected him. "No one makes shower music!"

"And I bet we'll find out why…" Laney whispered to Jackie.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Tracy entered the bathroom wearing a bathrobe and holding her favorite pink rubber duck.

"Ready for bath time Quacker Jack?" she happily squeezed the duck and pulled open the curtains.

However, when she did so she was greeted with loud music and a rock and roll screech. The whole band was playing their instruments in her own bathtub! Jackie was there too, enjoying the music.

"AARRGH!" Tracy yelled pointing at Jackie. "Why are you and your band of dorks in my bathroom?!"

"We only have one bathroom." Jackie pointed out. "I've been using this tub my whole life…"

Tracy recalled when she and Jackie were very young and the two were forced to take baths together. Tracy screamed in disgust and fainted.

"Well, we've worn out this crowd!" Corey declared. "Let's take this thing on the road!"

So the band traveled to different people's showers and played their music in front of them. They thought that it was a good idea at the time but the minute they started rocking out was the same minute they got thrown out. After several failed attempts, the gang headed home. Corey sighed.

"I don't get it! It's like people don't like strangers in their bathroom."

"What a shame." Laney rolled her eyes. "I guess that means we have to-"

"That's it!" Corey interrupted. "We'll play our music into their showers through the pipes!"

"You totally called it Laney!" Kon said.

"I didn't call anything!"

Meanwhile, Tracy and Macy were walking into an outhouse.

"So, you're really not gonna use your shower anymore?" Macy asked.

"My sister has used that shower!" Tracy shuddered. "It's officially a nightmare hole! I am never showering again!"

"Um, but if you don't shower, you're gonna get dirty. And stinky."

"I've already geniused a solution!" Tracy grabbed the handle on the outhouse's toilet. "Behold! Or voila or whatever…"

The selfish teen pulled down the toilet handle causing the toilet to overflow. Macy gasped.

"Uh, but this is the leakiest toilet in Tranquil Town!" Macy tried to grab the handle but Tracy smacked her hand away repeatedly. "If you-ow! Don't jiggle the handle-ow! It'll run forever!"

"And the town's reservoir will drain empty!" Tracy snapped the handle off and dropped it in the full toilet. "No one in town will shower again! I'll still smell the best!"

Tracy laughed maniacally.

A few weeks later, Tracy's evil plan had worked. Everyone in town smelled terrible and couldn't do a thing about it because the reservoir was completely empty. Destiny Providence and Buster Newsworthy were reporting on the problem. The two of them had clothespins on their noses so they couldn't smell each other.

"It's been two weeks since the Tranquil Town reservoir mysteriously emptied, plunging the town into a stinking filthy shower drought!" Destiny reported.

"As the town's level of stink nastiness reaches egg salad sandwich levels, it may be time to panic!" Buster added.

"Not even plugging our noses will help when the Tranquil Town's Stationary Marathon starts to sweat! I can only hope none of us live to see it! Our coverage begins at 6!"

Jackie walked outside the garage and was shocked to see a huge line of stinky citizens in a long line. She noticed Kin and Kon up front taking people's money and handing them air fresheners.

"Guys! What's going on?"

"We're selling our air fresheners to all of the smelly people in Tranquil Town!" Kon explained.

"Maybe trading our magic jelly beans for air fresheners was a good idea!" Kin complimented his brother.

Kon smiled, happy that his brother was acknowledging him again. "I've never seen so much cash in my life! We could buy a bike!"

"Or a yacht!" Kin suggested.

"Or a bike yacht!" Kon jumped up excitedly.

"Bike yacht?" Jackie tried to imagine what the strange combination would look like.

"Yeah…" the twins sighed dreamily.

"And once we sell them all, we'll totally be able to afford it!" Kon picked up another stack of money.

"All of them? Oh no! We can't sell all of them!" Kin smiled nervously.

"Why not?"

Jackie moved toward Kin and sniffed.

"By the way Kin, I don't know why, but you smell really good today!"

Kin squealed and hearts popped out of him. Kon gave his nerdy brother a glare.

"What?" Kin shrugged. "I have to save a few for myself! If this shower shortage keeps up, I'm gonna get stinky! And I already told you I cannot stink in front of Jackie!"

"Whatever bro…" Kon groaned.

Tracy was laying out on a lawn chair in the front yard. Laney and Corey watched her from behind.

"This town stinks so much the sky is turning yellow!" Laney observed. "Yet somehow, Tracy manages to escape the reek!"

"She has a Macy." Corey reminded her.

Tracy rang a bell and Macy quickly handed her a lemonade. A second later, she rang the bell again and Macy put the straw in Tracy's mouth. One more ring and Macy wasn't sure what to do.

"I don't know how to force lemonade through the straw Tracy."

"Ugh!" Tracy tossed her glass. "Then just perfume me!"

Macy sprayed Tracy with a bottle of perfume but after a few shots, nothing came out.

"I'm almost out." Macy said worried. "I'll get more!"

"Take me with you!" Tracy demanded. "I wanna rub everyone's nose in my smelling good!"

Macy lifted Tracy off of her chair, put her inside a carriage that she was forced to build, and pulled her away. Jackie came up to her lead singer and bassist.

"Everyone but Tracy is moping for a soaping!" she complained.

"I know!" Corey nodded. "And the stationary marathon is today! We could have played every shower in town!"

"You gotta let it go Core." Laney told the blue-haired kid. "We can't fill up the reservoir."

"That's it!" Corey beamed. "We can fill up the reservoir!"

"How does your brain work?" Laney questioned.

Macy continued to ride her best friend through town. Tracy smiled while fanning herself with a fan.

"Tell me again." She said. "Who's the nicest smelling of them all?"

Macy panted. "You are Tracy!"

Suddenly, the carriage hit a rock and one of the wheels came right off. Tracy fell over on her back as the carriage stopped moving.

"You better fix that!" Tracy ordered. "These shoes are made for sitting Macy!"

Just then, Tracy spotted the love of her life across the street looking and smelling as good as ever.

"Macy! Spritz me!"

The red-head nerdette pulled out another bottle of perfume but it was empty. She tried several more bottles but those were empty as well.

"What?!" Tracy shouted. "How can those 48 bottles be empty already?! Macy! I need to smell the best! ARGH!"

Macy glanced at Tracy's armpit and sniffed it a little. Tracy saw this and gasped.

"Did you just…smell me?"

"What?!" Macy looked guilty. "No, no, no, no, no! It's just allergies!"

Tracy looked under her armpit and saw something green and wavy.

"What is this?!" she panicked.

"It's a stink line." Macy grimaced. "But it's tiny!"

Rick came up to the two girls.

"Whoa!" he said. "Looks like someone's having a little rickshaw trouble. Allow Rick Salary to be of service."

The teenage hunk pulled a spare wheel out from under his jacket and placed it into the empty slot.

"Oh Rick!" Tracy pounced on her crush and pinned him down. "You're my hero!"

The dark-haired girl puckered her lips and Rick got a good whiff of her.

"Whew! Tracy Matthews…gettin' a little ripe." Rick slipped out of Tracy's arms.

"What? Can't be! Maybe it's you!"

Rick stood up and dusted himself off.

"Rick's afraid that's impossible. Rick doesn't do stink. It's very un-Rick." He walked away. "Cool stink line Tracy."

Tracy looked under her arm and found that the stink line was getting worse. She screamed in horror and started running in panic.

"I NEED A SHOWER!"

Macy lifted up the carriage and followed her. "Let me drive you! Or you'll get more stink lines!"

**RICK DOES NOT DO STINK!**

Corey was showing his friends an outline of his plan to refill the reservoir.

"We need to direct the runners to the reservoir here!" he pointed to a spot on a map.

"But…that's a map of Chocometropolis." Kin pointed out. "The tasty board game town."

Corey got a closer look at the map and shrugged.

"The principle's the same!"

"How do we get them to follow us?" Kon asked.

The beanie-wearing singer held up a sign with an arrow on it.

"Everyone follows arrows!"

Kon started walking in the arrow's direction.

"Hm…left huh?" the drummer kept walking until he smacked against the garage wall.

"But why get them to the reservoir Corey?" Jackie asked.

"To sweat it out! Of course!"

"But we'll still need lyrics if we're gonna rock every shower in Tranquil Town Core!" Laney remembered.

"Cue Tracy." Corey gestured to the ceiling where Tracy's voice could be heard.

"I totally beseech and beg you!" Tracy was standing in the bathtub while Macy watched her. "Oh super hot shower gods, please blast the stink off me! PLEASE!"

Jackie entered the bathroom and looked over at Macy.

"Having some Tracy troubles?"

"She's starting to…stink…" Macy whispered the last word. "So she's praying to the shower gods. But there aren't any shower gods! I tried to tell her, but she threatened me with their vengeance!"

Tracy banged her fist on the wall.

"Just…one…drop! One drop!"

Jackie folded her arms and smiled.

"I think only family knows what to do in this case." She talked in a deep frightening voice. "Unless you want the vengeance of the SHOWER GODS!"

"No!" Macy cried.

Jackie went back downstairs to the garage wearing a sweatband. She turned on some jazzercise music and started dancing.

"Hey…" she thought for a second. "This is fun! Now I know why Kin and Kon do this all the time!"

"Congrats." Laney said sarcastically. "You dance like a mom."

"One drop!" Tracy begged. "So I can smell like me again! Like me! Like Rick likes me!"

The girl was surprised when she felt water droplets on her head.

"Yes!" she cheered. "I smell like…"

Tracy smelled her hands and got a look of disgust.

"Jackie?!"

She looked above her where Jackie was standing on a ladder squeezing sweat from her sweat band. Corey and Laney were right beside her.

"Just wringing out the old sweat band!" Jackie told her sister. "Didn't see you there! Guess you need a shower now huh?"

"Sweatband?! Your sweat?! On me?!" Tracy started turning red. "Now I smell like….YOU!"

Tracy let out an angry roar as she blasted into the air surrounded by stink lines. She grabbed her diary and wrote in it. The toilet and shower handles blasted water out of them. Tracy soon finished writing and returned to normal. Corey caught the diary and looked through it.

"I hope Kin and Kon made the arrows worked." He said to the girls. "Let's go!"

The Kujira twins were currently outside on the street leading people to the reservoir. Kon sat on Kin's shoulders holding an arrow sign.

"So what's the plan?" Kin asked his brother.

"If we go up to Eleventeenth Street, we can get them there in two arrows!" Kon held up more arrow signs. "We can conserve these other arrows for future generations!"

"I wish our parents had worried about sustainable arrows."

**SWEATY SKULL TRANSITION!**

The runners ran past the reservoir filling it up with their own sweat.

"Their sweat is filling the reservoir!" Kon exclaimed. "And we sold the rest of our air fresheners to em!"

"Yeah!" Kin nodded. "Good thing too because now that the showers will be back, I don't need their pine scent to smell good in front of Jackie! This is the most clever and disgusting thing ever!"

Corey, Laney, and Jackie arrived with their song lyrics.

"Way to go guys!" Jackie gave them a thumbs-up. "Now all we have to do is wait for the media to show up!"

As if on cue, Buster Newsworthy was standing next to the reservoir being filmed.

"This just in!" he announced. "The Tranquil Town reservoir is somehow full! However, we do urge caution as we do not know-"

Destiny got in front of the camera.

"Everyone shower now!" she commanded. "You may never get another chance! Just go without thinking! Go!"

"Told you this whole plan was as easy as rocking into a pipe!" Corey told Laney.

The band had set up several stereos and a funnel was connected to the shower pipes.

"Finally!" Kin cried. "I've been waiting two weeks to use my invention that gets our music into the city pipes!"

Corey started talking into his microphone.

"Tranquil Town! Are you ready to shower?!"

The band started playing a song into the pipes.

_Ahhh…_

_When you've been workin' up a sweat_

_You gotta wash that stink away_

_Scrub those nooks and crannies_

_That goes double for you grannies!_

_If it's a smell test that you wanna pass_

_Scrub your feet, wash your pits_

_And don't forget your…_

_Gluteus Max!_

_B.O. Away!_

_You gotta scrub your_

_B.O. Away! Yeah!_

_Scrub-a-dub-a-dub-a-dub-a_

_Scrub-a-dub-a-dub-a-dub-a_

_Scrub-a-dub-a-dub-a-dub-a_

_Scrub-a-dub-a-dub-a-dub-a_

_Scrub-a-dub-a-dub-a!_

_B.O. Away!_

_You gotta scrub your_

_B.O. Away! Yeah!_

_Yeah!_

The song caused the leaky toilet in the outhouse to clog and all of the filthy sewer water that was originally going through the shower pipes was clean again.

The mayor was in his bathtub with a picture of his mother.

"Wait a second! This water's clean!" he tossed the picture out of the tub. "Dibs on the shower Mother!"

The cameras turned back over to Destiny and Buster who were no longer wearing clothespins on their noses.

"Destiny Providence, happy to report that Tranquil Town no longer stinks!" she glanced at her partner. "Well, most of us no longer stink. Some of you just normally stink."

Buster smelled his underarm when Destiny said this.

"But the showers are back on!" Destiny said.

"In other news…" Buster continued. "All the participants of the stationary marathon were disqualified for running to the marathon site."

Jackie shut the TV off after she and the band watched the news report.

"We actually did it!" Laney exclaimed. "We played every shower in town!"

"But to what end Lanes?" Corey asked as a spotlight appeared over him. "We get life all over us. And then we just wash it off! Is the stink of life so terrible that we'd rather smell like some kind of flower or weird fruit? And why would someone make a sponge that hurts? We need to sing when we're out of the shower. Because that's where life happens."

"Hey Kin?" Kon sang. "I've got a surprise for you!"

The drummer handed the scientist a sweatband.

"An old sweatband?" Kin looked confused.

"Not just any old sweatband! This is a sweatband that Jackie used a while ago."

Kin took the sweatband and brightened.

"You mean…Jackie's sweat is on this sweatband?"

"Yup!" Kon nodded. "You like it?"

"Like it?" Kin hugged his brother. "I LOVE IT! I always said Jackie smelled wonderful! Now I can carry around her gorgeous scent everywhere!"

He held the sweatband to his face and breathed in.

"Ahh…the aroma of love…"

"Looks more like the aroma of creepy to me." Laney said.

Jackie came up to her band and Kin quickly hid his gift from Kon and blushed.

"Hey guys! Look what I bought with the money we made from selling air fresheners!" she held out her hand revealing four glowing beans.

"You got our beans back!" Kon cried.

"They can grow anything!" Kin added.

"Even a bike yacht plant!" Kon placed the beans on the ground and in a few seconds, a vine came out of the floor revealing a bike yacht.

"So that's what it looks like…" Jackie observed. "Cool!"

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Fun fact: Not counting the author's notes, this chapter consists of exactly 3,333 words! So funny how that works out. Anyway, should get another one up tomorrow if reviews happen quickly. See you then!**


	18. Guitar Zero

**Well, I got quite a lot of reviews so here's Chapter 18. This one is based on "Six Strings of Evil" which was requested by AviaTheGrojfan. Sorry if this one isn't as good as my other chapters, I'm going to try to make them more different from the episodes from now on.**

* * *

**Chapter 18**

**Guitar Zero**

Another day in Tranquil Town where things were starting to get loud and annoying. Corey had been practicing on his guitar for way too long and he had forced his band mates to listen to him. But he didn't want them to just listen once, he wanted them to listen until his riff was absolutely perfect. It wasn't like his friends minded listening to him play but having to listen to the same terrible riff over and over again was like torture. As Corey continued to play, Jackie, Laney, Kin, and Kon sat on the couch across from him, suffering from the awful noise.

"Guys? Remember when this riff wasn't all we heard ever?" Kon asked. "Cause I don't!"

"I started and finished my first novel." Kin informed the group. "It's about a guitar riff that bores everyone…wait for it…to death!"

Laney groaned. "This couch is gonna have an epic butt print. Or my butt's gonna have an epic couch print. Either way, it's lose-lose."

Corey continued strumming the wrong notes.

"So close!" he told himself. "Just one, no! Nineteen more tries!"

Jackie got up from where she was sitting.

"Core, everyone else needs to practice too. The Tranquil Town dam is almost finished!"

"And those beavers need a wicked tune to honor their hard work!" Kon added.

"And how better to honor top notch wood work than with a wicked axe solo?" Corey continued playing and at the same time messing up the notes. "Ugh! If only I had an instrument that could play no wrong!"

Kin and Kon gasped.

"Like the flute of Rocklympus!" they said together.

"The what?" Jackie repeated.

"The flute of Rocklympus!" Kin explained. "This magic flute played the greatest riff ever riffed!"

"It turned Nerdysseus, god of unpopularity, into a rock titan!" Kon continued.

"The flute was always perfect!"

"Perfectly evil! You see-"

But Corey wasn't listening because he was too busy focusing on getting his chords right.

"Oops! Let me try that again."

Jackie put a hand on Corey's back.

"Look Corey, you're working yourself too hard. Your solo doesn't have to have every single note and rhythm be perfect."

"That's easy for you to say Jacks!" Corey remarked. "You don't play an instrument!"

"No, but if I did, I wouldn't mind making a few mistakes now and then. The important thing is to do your best and be proud of what you can do."

Corey, once again, wasn't listening and kept trying to perfect his guitar riff.

"Okay, one more time!"

Suddenly, the blue-haired beanie-wearing boy had his guitar taken away from him. He turned around and saw that Tracy had it in her hands. With an evil smile, she threw the guitar into a wood chipper.

"Gah!" Corey cried. "Where'd the wood chipper come from?!"

"Those construction beavers left it lying around like they didn't need it cause of their giant teeth or whatever." Tracy snapped her fingers at Corey and left. "Finders, Tracy!"

Laney came up to Corey and tried to comfort him.

"Core? Are you okay? You must feel-"

"Correct!" Corey exclaimed. "Excited for a new guitar! So, how much do we have in the band fund for a solid gold axe?"

Kin broke open a piggy bank which had a jar of coins inside. He looked in it and counted all of them.

"Ninety-four cents." He concluded.

"And half a pack of gum!" Kon threw the gum in the jar.

Corey's dreams of getting what he wanted disappeared at these words. This time it was Jackie's turn to comfort him.

"Aww…it's okay Core. I'm sure we can find a guitar that we can afford."

Corey smiled a little. "Maybe you're right Jacks. To the Tranquil Town Flea Market!"

**YOU CAN'T GET REAL FLEAS THERE!**

The band arrived at the flea market looking for a place that sold guitars.

"There's gotta be a great guitar here somewhere!" Corey said to himself.

The five of them walked by Billy's stand.

"Why buy a guitar when yous can buy a bunch of stuff with heads that bobble?" Billy persuaded. "Bobble Billy does custom jobs!"

"No thanks Billy." Jackie responded politely.

"You sure about that? I just made tons of custom bobble-heads of you Jackie!" Billy held up a bobble-head of the manager.

Kin gasped excitedly when he saw it. He grabbed the jar of money and held it out for Billy.

"I'll take all of them! Every one you got! Jackie bobble-heads all around!"

Billy was about to take the money until Laney dragged the nerdy keyboardist away from the stand.

"Oh no you don't!" she scolded. "Corey's guitar first, your creepy Jackie obsession later!"

Tracy was also at the flea market with her best friend/slave, Macy.

"We'll never make enough money selling your lame treasured possessions." Tracy grumped. "Who treasures books? Especially ones titled 'Wha'?"

"Are you kidding?" Macy picked up the book. "'Wha?' is a book about the wackiest happenings in Tranquil Town history!"

The curly-haired girl flipped to a page.

"For instance, did you know the Great Avalanche of 1899 was caused by a tuba solo? Wha?!"

Tracy scoffed. "History! So yesterday."

With that, the mean teen shoved a whole stack of Macy's books into her wood chipper.

"I wish history never happened." Tracy complained. "Then I could erase the worst experience of my whole life!"

Tracy started having a flashback from a few weeks ago. She was going to ask her crush, Rick Salary out on a date. The hunk was at his locker flossing his teeth when Tracy came by.

"Rick!" Tracy had said. "Wanna split a Sugar Shack extra cold milkshake after school? You pick the flavor!"

Rick handed the used dental floss to a random fan girl, which she ate.

"Hmm…" Rick had pondered. "Rick Salary's all about dental hygiene this week. So, he's gonna have to shake his head no to that offer."

Tracy then returned to the present day. She was almost crying after remembering the harsh rejection from her true love. She then brightened again when she got an idea.

"I got it!" Tracy grabbed Macy by the arm. "When we make enough cash selling your stuff, I'll buy my custom Rick bobble-head, voodoo doll it, and make him say 'yes'! Forever! Also, remind me to learn voodoo."

Jackie and the gang finally found a stand that sold musical instruments. Corey was talking to the owner of the booth, Treble Cliff.

"What do you have that's really, really cheap, but still the best?" he asked.

Cliff disappeared behind his booth and the five teens heard rummaging.

"Does that table have a basement?" Kon wondered.

Cliff came back carrying a big brown case. He opened it up and the band was surprised to see a black-and-blue electric guitar inside of it.

"Huh, I coulda sworn there was a tuba in that tuba case." Cliff said. "Oh well."

"That looks awesome Core!" Jackie cried. "Try it out!"

Corey took the guitar and pulled it around his neck. He felt the strap tightening but he decided to ignore it. He played the guitar flawlessly.

"Wow! This guitar is perfect!" the band leader exclaimed.

"Bit tight, and it gives me nightmares." Cliff informed the five. "So I couldn't let it go for less than…ninety-four cents."

"Ninety-four cents?" Kin realized that was all the money they had. He looked back over at the bobble-head stand where the Jackie bobble-head was sitting. Tears filled his eyes as Laney took the jar.

"Sorry Kin. It's either save the band with a new guitar, or have no band and a poorly-made Jackie bobble-head."

Kin started bawling and he planted his face in Kon's shirt. Kon groaned and patted Kin on the back. Corey handed the jar of money to Cliff.

"Keep the gum." He told him.

**GUUUUUMMMM!**

The gang arrived back at the garage ready to rehearse, Corey especially. He could hardly wait to hear how his new guitar would sound with the rest of the band playing with him. Jackie sat in her chair holding her clipboard.

"Okay guys! Let's take it from the top!"

"1, 2, 3, 4!" Kon counted them in but Corey cut him off with a guitar riff.

"We sound awesome!"

"You mean you sound awesome." Laney corrected him.

"C'mon Corey, you've had your share in the spotlight." Jackie said. "Time to let everyone else have a turn. Let's start that again."

The others started playing their instruments. Corey smiled and joined in when he was prompted. Then suddenly, a blue star appeared on the guitar and the same blue star appeared in Corey's eyes. The front man proceeded to rip the strings on Laney's bass, smash Kin's keyboard in half, and tumble over Kon's drums.

"Dude! Way to murder our instruments!" Kon yelled.

"Yeah Core! We can't afford any more replacements!" Jackie reminded him.

"I couldn't stop!" Corey tried to defend himself. "This guitar wants to be played!"

"So did our instruments!" Laney glared.

Jackie heard her cell phone ring and she reached into her pocket to answer it. Corey got stars in his eyes again and he charged for the phone. Luckily, Jackie pulled it out of the way before he could destroy it.

"Corey! Cut it out!" the manager scolded.

"I can't!"

"Are you for real right now?" Laney was skeptical.

"It's the guitar! It feels angry!" Corey told his friends. "It's like, it hates other music!"

"Then get rid of it!" Laney suggested.

The red-head was about to help the leader get the guitar off his neck but this just made the guitar's grip on Corey tighter.

"It looks like it's not coming off!" Corey jumped off the stage and headed for the door. "I think it's time to test Treble Cliff's no return policy."

However, before the blue-haired boy could step out, the guitar pulled him right back in.

"Whoa! That guitar does not wanna go anywhere!" Kin observed.

"Can you blame it?" Kon pointed out. "It's like ten blocks back to the flea market!"

Corey sat down on the couch.

"Head back and find out what this guitar's deal is."

The other four nodded and headed for the door.

"Try not to get into too much trouble with that thing." Jackie said before leaving with her other band members.

Corey sighed sadly as the star on the guitar came back and started playing itself.

"Did you say something?" Corey looked down at his new instrument.

The guitar played a chord as if to reply.

"All other instruments must what?"

Another chord.

"Tie?"

A frustrated chord.

"Oh! Die!" Corey paused. "Wait, how can I understand you?"

The string instrument yanked Corey by the neck and started to drag him out of the garage.

"Hey! Where are we going?"

The guitar used its sound waves to destroy the wind chimes outside the garage.

"You monster! Those are soothing!"

It spotted an ice cream truck next. Tons of children were lined up for their favorite frozen treat.

"What'll it be kids?" the friendly ice cream man asked them.

But before he could serve any of them, the guitar used its sound waves to destroy the music-playing truck.

"Awww…" the kids moaned as the ice cream fell on their heads.

"Keeping ice cream from kids?!" Corey shouted. "You're more evil than bag pipes!"

The guitar's next target was at the park where Jackie's worst rival, Jack Matterson was managing a rehearsal for his band.

"Okay Newmans!" he sat down holding his clipboard. "Just like we practiced!"

"You got it Jack!" Carrie said.

The three girls and one boy started playing a song but were then smacked into the air by the guitar which was spinning rapidly. Jack stood up angrily and waved his fist at Corey.

"You'll pay for that Riffin!"

Corey laughed. "Okay! That was fine! Only because I hate The Newmans. But you can't just destroy every instrument in town!"

The guitar said something in its language.

"Oh yeah? How?"

Soon, Corey was regretting talking back to his instrument because at that point, he was standing on top of the Tranquil Town dam with four giant stereos. The stereos blasted loud music which caused some of the logs on the dam to fall off. Two beavers saw what was going on.

"Dude!" one of them said. "When that dam comes down, every inch of it and Tranquil Town will be destroyed! And on a side note, we'll all be dead."

"Oh." Corey now understood. "That's how. And it might actually work if I was going solo. But I've got a band, and they always back me up!"

The singer/guitarist reached into his pocket and started texting Laney. Speaking of which, she was busy having a conversation with Cliff trying to get him to spill the beans.

"Like I said, thought it was a tuba." Cliff told the girl.

"Not good enough Cliff!" Laney glared. "Try again!"

"I…didn't think it was a tuba?"

The red-head bassist grabbed Cliff by his shirt collar and gave him the evil eye.

"It's real risky to lie to me Cliff." She threatened.

Kin, Kon, and Jackie were at Tracy's booth. Kin was reading "Wha?" and he stumbled across a page that surprised him.

"Kon! Jackie! Check it out!" he showed his brother and crush the book.

"Whoa! It's the tuba that avalanched Tranquil Town!" Jackie looked at the picture closer. "Hey, Corey's guitar has that same blue star on it!"

"Like the flute of Rocklympus!" Kon beamed.

"Um, by the way guys…" Jackie began. "You never did finish that story. What was the deal with that magic flute?"

"It hated other music so much, it crumbled the mountain!" Kon explained.

Kin kept reading.

"And the bassoon that killed Tranquil Town's dinosaurs!"

Kon took the book.

"And the Tranquil Town triangle!"

"Whoa! This thing has been around forever!" Jackie snatched the book out of Kon's hands. "And now it's Corey's guitar!"

Laney, meanwhile, was trying to get answers out of Cliff by pinning him to the ground.

"I swear! I just found it buried in the snow on Mount Tranquility!" he pleaded. "Please!"

Laney let go of his arms. "You're turning my stomach Cliff!"

Kon showed Macy her old book and handed her a wad of cash.

"I want this book! Name your price!"

"Sold!" Tracy snatched the money out of the drummer's hands.

"I gotta quit telling people to name their price!"

Kin glared at his twin. "You realize we could have gotten a not evil guitar with that money. And then maybe we still would have had enough to buy a…oh, I don't know…A JACKIE BOBBLE-HEAD?!"

"Bro, your obsession with her is starting to get creepy…"

Laney met up with her friends.

"I got nothing. Cliff won't talk."

"He won't have to Laney!" Jackie said. "Corey's guitar is evil and will destroy the town!"

"Yeah, it's in a book!" Kon pointed to the book he just bought.

"Guys, you can't believe everything you read."

Laney heard her phone ringing and checked her text messages.

"Oh no! Corey says his guitar is evil and is trying to destroy the Tranquil Town dam!"

"Oh, so we're gonna believe everything you read!" Kon rolled his eyes.

"Forget it Kon!" Jackie paced back and forth. "What's important is that Corey has to break that guitar's hold on him!"

"But this thing just makes people play what it wants!" Kin pointed out.

"Hm…" Jackie snapped her fingers. "Then Corey needs to play what he wants! You guys need lyrics so he can stand up to it! He has to say 'no'!"

"He has to say 'yes'!" the four heard Tracy across from them giving the money Kon gave her to Billy.

"Well, as you can see, you've come to the right place." Billy told her.

"Hey!" Kin got an idea. "Something tells me that making that doll say no to Tracy, will put her on a bus to Diary Town!"

"Wow Kin!" Jackie poked Kin on the nose. "You are a genius!"

Kin giggled and hearts came out of him. Tracy jumped up and down.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" she cried. "Rick's gotta say 'yes'!"

Kin and Kon snuck into Billy's booth and hid under the table.

"Okay! Okay! I get it!" Billy put his hand in one of his boxes. "Now, let me just put a head on im…"

When Kin saw Billy's hand he gave it a good bite to buy them time.

"Ow!" Billy yelped. "Lousy heads!"

"Quick!" Kin whispered to Kon. "Grab a 'no' head!"

Kon did so and handed it to Kin.

"And hey, while you're at it, find one of Jackie too! So…Billy can find it easily."

Kon shook his head. "Nice try dude."

"Hey, it was worth a shot!" Kin placed the Rick head in Billy's hand. Lucky for them, Billy didn't notice and put it on the body.

"All done!" he handed it to Tracy. "Here's your uh, creepy dreamboat bobble-head."

Tracy took the bobble-head, knowing what she was going to do with it first.

"Rick! Do you wanna have a hand-holding dream with me? In a castle?"

She poked the bobble-head but it shook its head no.

"…A better dream then?"

The bobble-head said no again.

"…Any dream?"

Once again, it said no.

"…So, you'll just love me the most when we're awake?"

Another no.

"Am I like 'whoa'?" Tracy was getting frustrated. "Am I prettier than Macy?!"

The bobble-head continued to shake its head back and forth. Tracy gave it an angry glare.

"You can't say no…TO ME!"

The teenager shot up in the air surrounded by bobble-head heads. She started to write inside her diary causing Macy's books to shoot fire out of them. When she was done, she landed in her booth next to Macy. The Rick bobble-head fell into the wood chipper. Kon coughed as the dust went into his face. Laney caught the falling diary.

"Got it!" she and the others ran off to find Corey.

The Tranquil Town dam continued to lose more and more logs. Water was leaking out from behind the dam as the guitar continued to play loud music. Corey was about to give up hope when he saw his friends riding up to meet him on a log.

"I knew you guys would make it!"

Laney jumped off holding Tracy's diary and Jackie followed her.

"I won ten bucks!" Kin informed his leader. "Kon didn't think you'd still be alive! Now once this is all over…I can finally get my Jackie bobble-head…"

Kon folded his arms. "Still creepy dude."

"Core, you gotta use these lyrics to overpower that guitar before it destroys all of Tranquil Town!" Laney said quickly.

Corey shushed her and put a finger to her lips.

"You had me at 'Corey, you're the greatest'."

"Okay enough fooling around you two!" Jackie ordered. "We've gotta save my town!"

The band grabbed their instruments and started rocking out. With his friends' music giving him strength, Corey was able to rip the guitar from his neck.

_No I won't play, not today_

_I hear your voice, laughing like I have no choice_

_You're calling me but no I won't play_

_I know you'll try to hold me, but I'm still free_

_Yeah!_

_Huh!_

While Grojband played their song, the dam continued to break.

_Ugh! I'll get you!_

_I know you're playing but you can't play me_

_I know you're playing but you'll never take me_

When the song ended, Corey smashed the guitar in half.

"Gotta say, that was the best solo ever!" he said as the star on the guitar faded away. "The guitar spell is broken!"

"Uh, so is the dam!" Laney pointed downward where the dam was falling apart.

"That thing really was a wicked axe!" Corey said impressed as the ground shook. "JUMP!"

The other four obeyed as the dam crumbled sending all five falling to the ground.

"Sorry you'll never play another perfect riff Core!" Jackie called to her favorite singer.

"You were right Jacks! Being perfect is the worst mistake you can make!" a spotlight shined as Corey kept falling. "I wanted a perfect guitar, and I thought it would make up for my own imperfections. It did, but sometimes you find your faults just pile up behind a dam and when it breaks, your whole town is flooded. But for real!"

"So the guitar won?" Kin guessed.

"Looks like it!" Corey noted. "Thanks for coming out everyone!"

**SPLASH!**

The whole town was flooded in seconds. Tracy was unconscious, floating on a pile of Macy's books. She woke up to the sound of a music box playing. The music box opened up revealing a blue star.

"Yeah, we should totes make Mount Tranquility erupt!" Tracy had blue stars in her eyes. "Uber totes!"

* * *

**I've still got more episodes to fill so once again, be patient. If this chapter gets reviews fast enough, Chapter 19 will be out tomorrow. Bye!**


	19. Graveyard Shift

**Well, even if Halloween was like four months ago, I'm proud to present Chapter 19, based on "Dance of the Dead"! This episode was requested by two guest reviewers: Riley Benjamin, and someone whose name was kept anonymous. Hope both of you enjoy it!**

* * *

**Chapter 19**

**Graveyard Shift**

It was a dark and spooky Halloween night at Elementary High. The moon was full and lightning struck from the huge lightning storm above the school. Kon was holding Kin while the two of them shook with fear. A shadowy figure was approaching the two of them and they screamed loudly. The figure then revealed itself to be Laney giving them both an annoyed look. The twins saw that it was her but continued to scream.

"Stop doing that." Laney said.

Kon patted his scared twin on his back.

"Then stop wearing such scary costumes!"

Laney looked at her outfit, realizing that it was the same clothes she normally wore. She growled in anger.

The doors to the gymnasium opened and a light shined over the trio. Another figure stepped inside which made Kon freak out.

"AAA! Another monster!"

Jackie came out into the open wearing a costume.

"Hey guys!" she greeted.

"That's not a monster Kon." Laney corrected the drummer. "That's our manager."

"Wow…" Kin's eyes brightened at how beautiful Jackie looked. "Jackie, that's an awesome costume…"

"Thanks!" Jackie posed. "I'm the bride of Frankenstein."

"FranKinstein?" Kin giggled. "Oh I get it! It's cute how you put my name into the name of your own costume. Being the bride of FranKinstein suits you…"

"Uh, that's FranKENstein silly!" Jackie poked Kin in the nose. "He was a monster created by a scientist just like you!"

"So…is he just like the scientist or the monster?" Kon asked.

Jackie giggled. "Oh Kon! You're so funny!"

Just then, Corey entered the scene hiding something behind his back.

"Fellow Grojbandians!" he announced. "What's the one thing that would make tonight's Halloween gig the awesomest of all Halloween gigs?"

"A killer new tune complete with lyrics?" Laney guessed.

A buzzer sound indicated she was wrong. Kin pressed a button to answer Corey's question. Kon tried to buzz in as well but his button wasn't working.

"Oh! A killer new amp with a freaky skull on it?"

"So close!" Corey opened the other gym door revealing what he had. "A killer new amp with a freaky skull on it that glows in the dark!"

He looked over at the amp but it wasn't lighting up.

"If it were dark that skull would so be glowing."

"Ooh…nice find Core!" Jackie commented.

"I know right?" Corey nodded. "Cool costume by the way Jacks."

Laney chuckled.

"The amp does look cool Core but-"

Corey put a finger to Laney's lips and shushed her.

"I know Laney." He put an arm around his bassist. "And I'm sorry I've neglected you all this time."

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Laney's heart pumped.

"Should have said that I dig your costume too!" Corey finished. "My bad man! It's sick!"

Laney's mouth opened and her heart was hanging off her tongue.

"That's it! I'm outta here!" the heart jumped off of Laney's tongue.

The gym doors once again opened and this time, Tracy and Macy came in, the latter carrying a ton of supplies for the Halloween dance going on that night.

"Okay, the real people have arrived." Tracy said. "So all filthy sisters and their lame-o boy bands must vacate immediately! I've gotta ween the hallow out of this place!"

"And we are here to provide musical accompaniment!" Corey held up a flyer and showed it to Tracy. "As advertised!"

Tracy took the flyer and gave a fake smile.

"Oh you know what? This ad was already answered!" Tracy shoved the flyer in Corey's face. "BY NO ONE!"

The long-haired girl grabbed a microphone connected to the skull amp.

"BAM!" she screamed sending all five of the band members out of the gym.

"Bam indeed!" Macy exclaimed impressed.

Jackie and Grojband landed in a place that was filled with fog and tombstones. All of them crashed into the dirt except for Kon who, despite being the biggest, gently landed on his feet. Kin stuck his head out from the ground.

"Dude!" he said to Corey. "That amp kicks!"

"It crushes these other ones!" Kon slammed his fist on the rock next to him causing it to crumble. "Pfft, doesn't even glow in the dark."

"Pretty sure that's a gravestone." Laney stated.

Jackie looked around at the place where she and her band landed.

"Whoa…we're in a graveyard." She got a little nervous. "Creepy…"

"It's okay Jackie." Kin hugged the brunette tightly. "There's no need to be scared with me around."

"Guys, we've got a choice!" Corey stood up. "Freak out because we're standing on dead people…"

"I vote that!" Kon raised his hand.

"…or rock out right here! When the crowd shows up for the dance, they'll know where the party is!"

"Sounds fun!" Laney smiled. "And not creepy at all!"

"Yeah! Now I don't feel scared anymore!" Jackie acknowledged. "Thanks Corey!"

Kin crossed his arms, upset that he couldn't comfort his crush anymore.

"Yes…thank you Corey." He grumped. "Now only one question remains…if the amp blasted us here, then what blasted the amp here?"

The other four saw that the amp was standing in the graveyard which terrified them. Kin just shrugged.

"No seriously, I don't got a clue."

Back inside the school, Tracy was forcing Macy to set everything up for the dance. Macy opened up one of her boxes.

"I was up all night finishing my costume!" she informed her friend. "And also these flying origami bats you wanted."

A whole swarm of paper bats flew out of the box.

"Ugh, it's always origami, origami…" Tracy complained. "Well what about origa-ME?!"

Macy started digging through the box.

"Well, I thought you might say that…" the red-head pulled out an origami of Tracy. "So I made this life-sized origami version of-"

Tracy walked over to a fake coffin clearly not listening.

"Why hasn't hunky Rick Salary asked me to the dance yet?" she asked opening the coffin. "Doesn't he know that it takes time to come up with a perfect couple's costume?"

Inside the coffin was a nerdy kid wearing his underwear over his pants.

"At last!" the kid cried. "Freedom!"

Tracy slammed the coffin shut and continued.

"I mean, what could he be doing that's more important than that?"

Rick was at another part of the graveyard that the band was in kneeling down at a gravestone of his dog.

"Rick misses you Dog Rick." He held up a squeaky toy. "Stay…good Dog Rick."

Corey started playing a creepy tune on his guitar

_Halloween can sound so creepy_

_When you sing all ghostly_

_Just like meeeeeee!_

Unknowing to the five, when Corey sang the amp started to glow, blasting the sound waves to the gravestones. The music had awoken some unfriendly faces.

Jackie clapped once the band finished the song.

"Great job Core! But, the lyrics could use a little work…"

Then the manager and her band started to hear moaning sounds all around the graveyard.

"Are my lyrics really that bad?" Corey asked.

"Yes." Laney looked around. "But surprisingly, something else sounds worse.

"It's probably just those deadish guys crawling out of their graves…" Kin noted.

"ZOMBIES!" they all shouted. "ZOINKS!"

A zombie dog came out from under the gravestone Rick was at. Rick smiled and hugged the dog.

"Rick Salary loves surprises."

What Rick didn't realize was that his dog was looking for something to eat after all those years and bit his owner on the head.

"Ow! Bitey!" Rick stumbled over. "Rick Salary has mixed feelings about this!"

When the popular boy stood up, he had pale green skin and bleary eyes.

"Rick Salary…brains…"

"I can't help but feel like we should have done something there." Laney said as she witnessed Rick turn into a zombie.

Corey leaned against the skull amp.

"Well, it's not like we had anything to do with the whole…zombie thing!"

"I'll give you the 'we' part." Laney remarked.

**IT WAS NOT OUR FAULT!**

The friends headed to the store where Corey bought the amp so they could return it. Kin rang the bell at the front desk and they were greeted by a cheery employee.

"Welcome to the Evil Magic Music and Cheese Boutique!" she held out a tray of cheese to Kon. "Care to try some ghostly gouda?"

"Ooh…" Kon picked up one of the sticks of cheese. "Don't mind if I do!"

The black-haired kid proceeded to eat all of the cheese on the tray. When he finished he farted out green ghosts.

"Mmm…haunty!"

Jackie placed the skull amp onto the desk.

"We'd like to return one evil magic amp. Please?"

"Okay!" the employee held up a clipboard. "Just a few simple questions!"

Kin was ready to answer the first one.

"Apparently…" he whispered pointing at Laney. "No, it's not a costume."

"Thanks! Next question!" the employee continued as Laney gave Kin a glare. "Are you unhappy with the color of the amp?"

"No…" Laney answered.

"Super! Did the amp fail to glow in the dark?"

"No. It actually looks pretty cool."

"Yay! Did zombies happen?"

"That's the one!" Jackie snapped her fingers.

"Sorry, but our return policy doesn't cover reanimation of the dead."

"For serious?" Laney said in disbelief. "Is it too late to lie and say the color thing instead?"

The employee gave them a suspicious glare and it wasn't long before they were thrown out.

**HAUNTED CHEESE TRANSITION!**

Jackie and the band sat on the sidewalk eating the free samples of cheese.

"Well, I don't need to point out what a colossal failure that was." Kin said.

"Nope." Laney put another square of cheese in her mouth. "But you just did."

The gang heard the same moaning sound again. Laney waved her hand in front of her nose while glaring at Kon.

"Seriously dude!"

"That wasn't my butt!" Kon claimed. "At least I don't think it was."

He turned around and saw a whole group of zombies heading for them.

"Na…na…na…na…na…na…"

"Kon?" Jackie was concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Na…na…na…na…ZOMBIES!"

They all screamed as the zombies neared even closer and ran away from them a few feet. Once they were far enough, they stopped. Despite not running very far, Kon was completely exhausted. The zombies continued to slowly walk towards them.

"Well, I think we've got some time to figure this out now." Corey decided.

At Elementary High, the students were making their way to the gym dressed up in their best costumes. Tracy was standing in the middle of the dance floor waiting for Rick to show up. She turned around and saw the zombie version of her love.

"Gasp! There he is!"

Tracy didn't seem to notice that Rick was zombified because she was caught up in her fantasies.

"Finished!" a pig with glasses jumped in front of her and it turned out to be Macy. "What do you think Tracy?"

Tracy glared and shoved Macy. "I think…you're blocking Rick Salary's view of me Macy! This is it! Rick Salary is totally looking right at me!"

Rick groaned and slowly moved toward Tracy.

"He totally wants to dance all close and junk…" Tracy sighed happily. "And then have a super romantic first kiss and stuff! MUSIC!"

But no music played. Tracy rolled her eyes.

"Ugh! Who doesn't book a band?"

She spotted one of the students in a jukebox costume and kicked him to the wall. Music started coming out of the kid.

"Hey! I work!" he said. "Best day ever!"

Meanwhile, the band had backed into a corner and the zombies were starting to gain on them.

"Man, why did we back into this corner?" Kin asked.

"It seemed cozy." Corey replied. "OW!"

The blue-haired frontman looked down and saw that Kelsey and Alyssa were biting his leg.

"Oh no!" he cried. "Our adorable groupies have been turned into zombies!"

He shook the girls off and they glanced at each other confused.

"Zombies?" Alyssa said.

"What makes you think we're zombies?" Kelsey wondered.

Kin breathed a sigh of relief. "False alarm. They're just weird."

"Hi girls." Jackie waved. "How's it going?"

"Scary Halloween costume Jackie!" Kelsey complimented.

"Yeah, and your bassist has an even scarier one!" Alyssa added.

Laney had had enough. She turned into a giant ball of flames.

"I'M NOT WEARING A COSTUME!" she shouted so loud that Kelsey and Alyssa fell into the pack of zombies where they were both bitten.

"Okay…now our adorable groupies have been turned into zombies." Kin noted.

Zombie Kelsey and Alyssa and the rest of the zombies started closing in on Jackie and her friends.

"Oh no! We're done for!" Kin took Jackie by her hands. "Jackie! There's something I have to tell you! Since the day we met, I've always had a bit of a cru-"

"Shh…" Jackie put a finger to Kin's lips. "Hold that thought Kin."

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Kin's heart (which was originally Laney's) pumped as he turned red.

"Oh Jackie…I-"

"No! Really Kin! Be quiet! I hear something!"

Kin's heart came out of his mouth.

"Just when I thought I had found a new host."

The heart jumped off of Kin's tongue and splatted against the ground.

"You too huh?" Laney guessed.

"Yeah…" Kin looked down sadly.

"What do you hear Jacks?" Corey asked his manager.

Jackie pointed to the hill where her school was standing. "Up there!"

Music could be heard from the school's gymnasium and sure enough, the zombies could hear it too because they turned around and followed it.

"They're drawn to the music!" Corey observed. "C'mon guys! To the school!"

The band leader ran off but nobody followed him. He understood why no one had and came back.

"All right." He began. "I know that busting into that school will most likely result in our brains being eaten right out of our skulls! Or maybe our ears! Or possibly through our nostrils!"

"Wicked!" Kin and Kon went.

"Wicked gross!" Jackie gagged.

"But…" Corey stammered. "Um…uh…where was I going with this?"

"You had a plan." Laney reminded the guitarist.

"Then let's go!" Corey ran toward the school and this time everyone followed him.

**LET'S ALL GO TO THE SCHOOL!**

The zombies had arrived at the gymnasium and started helping themselves to the kids and their brains. The only one that didn't notice was Tracy who was still waiting for Rick to dance with her.

"Swoon!" she said. "All those movies were right! The greatest moments in life do happen in slow motion!"

Rick walked toward Tracy moaning while she puckered her lips. The zombie hunk continued to move slowly and Tracy glanced down at her watch.

Kon busted open the door and the others came in behind them.

"Let's do this!" Corey exclaimed.

"Sorry, exactly what are we doing?" Kin questioned.

"Oh yeah! Right!" Corey looked up at Jackie. "Uh, Jacks? You got a plan?"

"Hmm…" Jackie looked around the gymnasium. The first thing she saw was Rick holding Tracy in his undead arms. Then she saw Macy across from them dressed as a brain. The girl snapped her fingers. "Got it!"

Tracy leaned in to kiss the boy of her dreams and Rick opened his mouth releasing a trail of slime. Tracy didn't care though as long as she was about to kiss him.

"Hey guys!" Macy came over interrupting the not-so-romantic scene.

"Macy! What the what?!" Tracy scolded. "You're ruining my romantic slow-motion moment!"

"But Jackie said you wanted to see my costume." Macy explained. "I'm Cortexa! Queen of the brain children!"

Tracy grabbed ahold of her best friend in glasses.

"You're about to be queen of the brain-ally broken if you don't-"

"Rick like brains…" Rick moaned.

"Huh?" Tracy looked up.

"Thanks!" Macy blushed, but her love-struck expression turned to one of fear when Rick started moving towards her. "Uh-oh…"

The nerdette screamed in terror and Tracy saw that Rick was more interested in Macy than her. She was very angry.

"Since when…do guys…like…BRAINS?!"

Fire blasted from the top of the school and Tracy flew up into the air with her diary. When she wrote inside it, the gravestones in the graveyard shot out fire. Tracy then returned to normal and landed in the middle of the dance floor. Her diary landed in a zombie's hands.

"Yoink!" Corey snatched the diary away but also got the zombie's hands. He quickly removed them and met up with his band mates.

"Jackpot!" he cried. "If terrible lyrics and lightning and a magic amp woke the dead, then maybe good lyrics and lightning and a magic amp, will send them back to their eternal slumber!"

"Well, guess there's only one way to find out!" Jackie decided. "Hit the stage guys!"

The band did so and Corey counted them in.

"1, 2, 3, 4!"

They all started playing a groovy tune. Once the zombies heard it, they immediately stopped biting the students and started dancing. Macy was still struggling to fight off Rick as he tried to eat her out of her costume. Tracy pushed Macy out of Rick's arms and got inside of them.

"Rick…" she whined. "Pay attention to me! Bite me! Bite my head!"

The selfish teen opened up Rick's mouth and stuck her head inside of it.

"Ha! We're totally going steady now right?" she pushed him off. "Yes! I feel funny. Is this happiness?"

Unfortunately for her, it wasn't. Tracy fell to the ground and came back up as a zombie.

"Brains…"

Corey looked over at Kin.

"Cue lightning!"

The nerdy keyboardist played his keyboard which charged the lights on their stereos. Kon stuck his drumsticks into the lights, sending electricity into the magic amp. The amp glowed red and started playing the band's music really loud.

_Feeling like a monster_

_When your love don't want ya_

_I tried my best to play it right_

_But all you want is brains tonight_

_Now I've had this undead thought_

_To get you dancin' till you've had enough_

_Shake that rottin' booty till your tail falls off_

_Do the zombie dance_

_Dance right back into the grave_

_Do the zombie dance_

_If you don't want to behave_

_Stop eatin' that head_

_Get back to being dead_

_Do the zombie dance_

_Yeah, do the zombie dance!_

By the time the song was over, all of the zombies were back in their graves and all the people that had been turned into zombies turned back into people again. The problem was that nobody could remember anything.

"Huh?" Rick scratched his head. "Rick's confused."

Tracy smiled and batted her eyelashes.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure you were totally about to kiss me!" she puckered her lips.

"Nah." Rick dropped her on the ground. "Rick's starving and could totally scarf a steak right now."

Tracy chased after the teenage boy as he left the building.

"I think I have some steak flavored lip gloss! Rick!"

Kin came running back onto the stage after leaving for a while. He was wearing a Frankenstein costume.

"Guys! Where's Jackie?" he gained hearts in his eyes. "I wanna see the look on her face when she sees that we have matching costumes!"

"Hey guys." Jackie reentered the gym wearing her normal clothes, much to Kin's dismay.

"Jackie? Where's your costume?" he asked.

"Sorry Kin. Halloween's over." She showed him her watch. "It's past midnight. I don't need it anymore."

"But-but…"

"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow." The brown-haired leader was about to step out but then she looked back at Kin.

"By the way…great costume FranKINstein." She poked Kin on the nose and giggled.

When Jackie left, Kin swooned onto the stage.

"Even if I were dead, my heart would still be beating for only her…" he sighed.

"Well, no more playing cursed zombie skull amps in the cemeteries during lightning storms for us." Laney said.

"True." Corey gained a spotlight. "And you know what else we learned? Zombies don't deserve the bum rap that today's popular cultures assign them. When all is said and done, they're really just dead and decomposing people who love good music and want nothing more than to be the afterlife of a party."

The spotlight disappeared and Corey was about to close the garage door.

"Thanks for coming out! And enjoy your brains! Before someone else does!"

A zombie jumped out of nowhere and bit Corey on the head as he closed the garage.

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**An exact 3,400 words! I must be getting better at making things precise. So the next chapter is already written up so if I get more reviews, I'll give it to you. See you then!**


	20. Give the Kon a Bone

**Okay, I've had just about enough of everybody complaining about me not uploading enough so here is Chapter 20. Are you happy now? Honestly, first you guys tell me to pace myself because I was updating too quickly and when I decided to take a break for a while, you all start telling me to hurry up and update again. Sorry for complaining but I'm tired of hearing complaining. So please, please, PLEASE stop begging me to upload faster. I have a paper due in a few days and posting this has given me even less time to complete it than before. So to quote a lyric from one of Grojband's songs: Just knock it off because I've had enough! **

**All right, again, sorry for that rant. Here's the next chapter which is based on "Hair Today, Kon Tomorrow" which was requested by Madison Wooten and AvrilLavigneFan2001.**

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**Chapter 20**

**Give the Kon a Bone**

"And now…Kincredible and Konbelievable will make the lovely Laney disappear!" Kin announced from the stage in the garage.

Laney looked around the curtain she was standing in.

"Guys, I don't know about this." She said. "Why do you have to test this trick on me? Why not Jackie?"

Jackie was sitting in a chair in front of the stage watching with anticipation.

"Well we can't risk making Jackie disappear! She's a girl!" Kon explained making Laney growl.

"Exactly." Kin nodded. "Besides, this way I can show her how cool my magic is. Isn't that right Jackie?"

"You know it Kin!" Jackie smiled at her keyboardist.

Kin sighed and went love-struck. Kon hit his brother over the head with one of his magic wands to remind him to stay focused.

"Oh! Right!" Kin cleared his throat. "Drum roll please!"

Kon did a drum roll using the magic wands causing them to glow. He waved one in the air and pointed it toward the curtain.

"Abracadabra!"

**POOF!**

Kin opened the curtain to see that not only did he and Kon make Laney disappear, but they managed to teleport someone with a long blue wig inside the curtain! The twins shrieked in unison.

"Laney's turned into a girl!" Kon cried.

"Guys! It's me!" the person lifted up his wig revealing himself to be Grojband's lead singer. "Corey!"

Kin and Kon sighed with relief. Jackie stood up from her seat and clapped.

"Wow! That was an amazing trick you two! I never would have guessed that Corey would come out behind the curtain!"

Kin chuckled and blushed. "Gosh, you really think so?"

"Yeah! I especially loved that part where Kon did that wicked drum roll and made the magic wands spark! Way to go Kon!"

"Thanks Jacks!" Kon smiled with pride, then looked back at Kin who was giving him an angry glare. "What?"

"By the way Core, I gotta ask." Jackie pointed to her lead guitarist's head. "What's with the wig?"

"Remember when we watched that special in 80's hair metal band, Mullet Bullet?"

"Oh yeah…that was really dumb. I'm kind of glad that the hair metal fad is over."

"I was too Jacks." Corey explained. "But then I heard that Mayor Swellow wanted the hair-doiest band in town to rock this year's Doggie Do Dog Show! All the competing dogs have hair-dos and so will we!"

Corey proceeded to give Kin and Kon their own wigs. Kon was getting even more excited than Corey was.

"Hair metal, wicked mullets, and wickeder drum solos?! I'm in!"

"Bring your magic drumsticks!" Kin handed his twin the magic wands. "Dogs love magic tricks!"

"Um, pretty sure they love doing tricks Kin." Jackie corrected him.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Corey asked. "Let's get going!"

"Wait!" Jackie stopped the boys in their tracks. "We can't leave without Laney! Where is she anyway?"

As if on cue, Laney fell down from the ceiling and landed on the stage.

"Sorry Lanes!" Corey put a wig on her. "If you wanna harsh on my plan, you gotta be here on time!"

Laney had no clue what Corey was talking about and she was too dizzy to find out why. So she just followed Jackie and the boys out of the garage wearing her new dark pink wig. Grojband's groupies, Kelsey and Alyssa came out of the trash cans and saw their favorite band leaving.

"Corey's new hair is so lame." Alyssa commented. "Why do we love it so much?!"

"Don't ask why!" Kelsey told her friend. "Just squeal!"

And they both did.

**SPINNY WIG TRANSITION!**

Tracy and Macy were already at the dog show looking at the different dogs competing. Tracy had just gotten a brand new purse big enough to fit a small dog inside and she thought that the dog show was the best place to find one. Macy was measuring one of the dogs.

"Um…he's a bit big for your purse Tracy…" she informed her best friend.

"Then it better not win!" Tracy yelled. "I want the best dog to fit inside the best purse!"

"You don't get to keep the winning dog…"

"But I'm the best!" Tracy insisted. "Who else deserves the best dog Macy?!"

"Uh…"

Tracy ignored her friend's skittishness and immediately went back to looking for dogs.

"Ooh look!" she pointed at one. "That one comes with a flea picker monkey!"

Macy noticed that Jackie and Grojband were coming onto the main stage.

"Speaking of fleas…" she remarked. "Looks like the circus is in town."

Tracy zipped up to her sister and her band looking annoyed.

"What are you hairballs doing here at my dog ball?"

"Mayor Swellow needed the hair-doiest band to rock these hounds!" Jackie said. "And now that Grojband has a new style, no one's hairier than them!"

"Ugh!" Tracy stormed away. "I will not have my future purse dog's ears irritated by their unlisten-to-able noises! Hmm…if Jackie's dumb band members need those wigs to play then…Macy!"

Macy came up to Tracy holding a bucket of fleas. Her hair was a tangled mess and she was covered in bruises.

"Fleas!" she handed the bucket to Tracy. "Here you go Tracy! Did you know monkeys could punch with their tails?"

The red-haired girl fell face first on the ground. Tracy just rolled her eyes and smiled wickedly.

"You bugs are gross, filthy, and annoying. You and Fromojband should get along just fine!" she laughed.

The evil teenager got to work putting handfuls of fleas in each one of the band member's wigs. First Laney's, then Kin's, then Corey's, and finally Kon's. When she finished, she made her way off the stage.

"Good luck with your wig gig!" she said. "I bet you're just 'itching' to play!"

"Whoa…Tracy actually wishing you guys good luck?" Jackie scratched her chin. "This seems very suspicious…"

"Aw c'mon Jackie!" Corey shrugged. "Maybe she's finally being nice for once."

"Thanks Tracy!" Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon said together before getting itchy feelings on their heads. "FLEAS!"

"I knew it!" Jackie slammed her fist into her palm. "Tracy put fleas in your wigs!"

The four started running around in a panic while scratching their heads frantically. Kon hit himself with Corey's guitar trying to get the fleas off.

"I…can't…take it anymore!"

"Guys! Calm down!" Jackie reassured her friends. "We'll just need to get rid of your wigs."

"But how?" Corey asked scratching his scalp.

The brown-haired manager looked around and beamed when she saw a machine that shaved dogs and burned their fur.

"That's it! Guys, give me your wigs! I'll take care of everything!"

She took the flea-infested wigs off of Kin, Laney, and Corey and was about to take Kon's but he stopped her.

"No way Jacks!' Kon persuaded. "No wigs equals no drum solo!"

"Sorry Kon, but you can't perform your drum solo with an itchy head. It's for the best."

With that, she took Kon's wig away and tears filled the drummer's eyes.

"Fine! Take it!"

"Psst!" someone whispered to Kon from a distance.

"Huh?" Kon looked behind him and saw a devious looking man in a plaid jacket.

"You look like you lost your best friend son." The man said.

"Yep." Kon nodded. "It's that age-old story. Boy finds hair, boy loses hair."

"If hair is what you seek, look no further!" the man opened his jacket, pulled a bottle out from one of its pockets, and gave it to Kon.

"Magic Mutt Hair Tonic." Kon read.

"One tiny drop will grow any fro! Grow any do! Sure it's for dogs but it'll work on you! Like magic."

"Whoa!" Kon gave the man a push. "Stand back strange dude! One mega mullet coming up!"

He poured the liquid on top of his head and waited a few seconds but nothing happened.

"You're supposed to drink it." The man stood up from the fall.

The others, meanwhile, were still getting ready on stage.

"So Core," Laney began. "How we gonna get our lyrics from Tracy?"

"Hair metal songs were power ballads about crazy love." Corey recalled what he had seen in the 80's special. "Well, Tracy's gonna have an 'I Love Tiny Dogs' freakout any second! She'll lose her mind! And we'll have our lyrics!"

"Good thinking Core!" Jackie said. "Now all we need is…"

"Our wigs are clean!" Kin called from a machine that washed dogs.

"Yeah…" Jackie giggled nervously. "Guess we should have told Kon there was a dog wash next to the dog hair incinerator…oh well!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Speaking of Kon, he was practically miserable about not getting any hair from the hair tonic.

"I'll never get my hair metal drum solo now…" he sighed. "There's gotta be another way. Think Kon think!"

The fat teen repeatedly hit himself in the head with one of his magic drumsticks and when he did, he gained a long purple mullet.

"Abracadabra!" Kon started running around while screaming with joy. Unfortunately, he wasn't looking where he was going and tripped on a dog collar.

"Whoopsie-daisy!"

The next thing he knew, he was out cold. When he woke up a few minutes later, he saw a bunch of dogs looking at him and licking his face. Kon crawled toward one of the dogs' water dish.

"Huh? What happened?" he asked himself. "Who am I?"

He saw his reflection in the water and found out that he had purple hair all over his body.

"I'm all covered in dog hair! I must be a dog! I mean…woof!"

Jackie was putting the clean wigs back on her best friends' heads. She led them back to the stage carrying Kon's wig.

"Kon sure will be happy to get his wig back." Jackie said. "Hey, where is Kon?"

"Kon! Kon!" the others called out. "Where are you Kon?"

Just then, a purple barking dog came running up to Kin carrying a magic wand in his mouth.

"Sorry boy." Kin patted the dog on his head. "I don't have time to play fetch. We need to find Kon."

The dog continued barking.

"Okay fine. Just one."

The boy with glasses grabbed on to the magic wand and he started having a vision of what happened to his twin.

"Hair tonic…hit his head…thinks he's a dog…" he muttered. "Oh no! Kon thinks he's a dog!"

"You mean this slobbery mound of fur is Kon?" Corey asked.

"He's not a slobbery mound of fur Corey!" Jackie scolded before she kneeled down and scratched Kon's tummy. "He's an adorable fluffy puppy dog!"

Kon panted and laid down on his back while Jackie kept scratching him.

"Aww…so cute! Who's the cutest drummer dog in the world? Huh? Huh? Who is it? That's right! You are! Yes you are! Yes you are!"

Kin gasped and started imagining what Jackie would think if he was a dog.

"_Who's my favorite little genius? You are! Yes you are!_"

"Kon!" Kin grabbed his furry brother. "You gotta tell me where you found that hair tonic! I need Jackie's puppy love!"

"Dude, she's not gonna get with you." Kon said. "Whoops! I mean…woof!"

"Uh Jackie?" Laney started. "I don't mean to be a downer but…we can't play without a drummer!"

"Citizens of Tranquil Town!" Mayor Swellow said over the microphone. "Welcome to the Doggie Do's Dog Show! We're gonna start with everyone's favorite event…the Dogstacle Course!"

The politician gestured to a playing field filled with several obstacles.

"Our dogs must make it over the bath of doom, past the loitering cat, and avoid the dog catcher before returning the golden slippers to their masters!"

"That's it!" Corey beamed. "We'll enter Kon-dog in the dog competition! He'll snap out of it as soon as he sees he can't do what the actual Doggie Do's dogs can do!"

"I don't know Corey." Jackie petted Kon on the head. "I think Kon-dog can do anything as long as he believes in himself. Isn't that right most cutesy-wutesy dog in show?"

The other three kids stared at Jackie awkwardly. She stood up and cleared her throat.

"I mean, yeah! He totally can't do what those dogs can! Heh, heh…"

**JACKIE LOVES THAT PUPPY!**

Kin led Kon-dog to the starting line where all of the other dogs were lined up with their masters.

"On your marks…"

"Now don't feel bad when you lose this thing." Kin told his dog brother.

"Get set…"

"After all, the sooner you stop being a dog, the sooner Jackie can stop giving you endless attention."

"_Oh, as if she'll pay more attention to you._" Kon thought. "_Yeah right!_"

"Go!"

Kon ran alongside the other dogs as they approached the first obstacle. Kon's loud barks scared a tiny dog causing him to fall into the pit. He then reached the fake tree with the loitering cat and scared it, along with another dog, with his belch. The dog catcher was next but the purple-haired drummer dog easily avoided him by swinging off a tire swing. He quickly retrieved the golden slipper and ran to where Kin was.

"C'mon boy!" Kin encouraged.

Kon placed the slipper on Kin's foot which determined that he was the winner of the first competition.

"What a good dog!" Mayor Swellow noted.

"So, that was unexpected." Laney said.

"I told you he could do anything!" Jackie gave a winning smile.

"Yeah, even Tracy loves Kon-dog!" Corey observed as Kon received a head rub from Tracy.

"Forget a tiny dog to ride in my purse! I want this big dog to carry my purse!" Tracy grabbed Kon-dog by his furry cheeks. "You'll be my best fwiendy-wendy!"

"But I thought I was your best fwiendy-wendy…" Macy felt like crying.

"Things change Macy! It's philosophy!"

"Wow, finally something Tracy and I have in common!" Jackie said. "We both adore Kon as a dog!"

"Yeah, but if we don't get Kon back, our gig will be ruined!" Laney reminded her manager. She looked over at Corey who was deep in thought. "Core, why aren't you reacting to me saying 'ruined'?"

"Those dogs are responding to their trainer's whistle." Corey explained. "Maybe if we play music, Kon's drummer instincts will kick in!"

"Yeah, and then he'll stop being a cute dog, and go back to being a cute drummer!" Jackie finished.

"That's great!" Laney agreed. "But we still don't have any lyrics."

"That'll be easy!" Jackie scoffed. "When Tracy finds out that her favorite dog is really Kon, her diary will open right up!"

"So Kon has to win?"

"You saw Kon back there!" Corey told his bassist. "What dog could possibly beat him?"

Mayor Swellow gathered all of the remaining dogs onto the stage.

"Only three dogs remain: Yippy, Kon-dog, and five time defending Doggie Do's champion, Cuddles!" the mayor referred to a pit-bull with a spiked collar. Cuddles growled and ripped off his own fur.

Corey saw that Laney was giving him a look of uncertainty.

"We should probably cross our fingers…" Corey shrugged looking uncertain as well.

"Don't worry guys!" Jackie reassured them. "There's no way that 'Cuddles' is cuter than Kon! At least…I think so."

"What better way to determine man's best friend than by hearing those three little words?" Mayor Swellow talked into Cuddles's ear. "I love you!"

"Ri ruv rou." Cuddles responded.

"Excellent! It's the next round for this hound!"

Yippy was next. The mayor repeated what he said to Cuddles.

"I love you!"

Yippy, as his name suggested starting yipping and yapping.

"Well there's no need to shout!" the mayor pressed a button sending Yippy away. "Because you're out!"

Finally, it was Kon's turn.

"I love you!"

"Aw Mayor Swellow!" Kon squeezed the politician into a hug. "I love you too!"

"Dog-Kon it! I feel the love!" the mayor cried.

Kin started to get another thought of himself as a dog.

_"__Jackie? I love you!"_

_"Aww…I love you too cutest scientist puppy in the world!"_

Kin sighed happily and swooned. Tracy squealed with happiness and hugged Kon-dog.

"Now I love this dog even more! The only thing bad about him is that he resembles that gross fat dude from Jackie's band. But who cares? I've always wanted a BFF who says he loves me!"

Macy was next to Tracy. "But-"

"Zip it!' Tracy ordered. "I'm bonding with the dog!"

"Only two contestants left!" the mayor reminded the audience. "The dog sled race will decide this year's Doggie Do's winner!"

Cuddles and Kon-dog were both on leashes being held by their masters (well one master and one brother) who were both on skis. Across from them were two flaming hoops, a row of logs, and a giant red tube.

Corey scratched his chin. "If we want Kon-dog to win this, we may need to teach a new dog, an old trick!"

The blue-haired singer snapped his fingers and Kelsey and Alyssa showed up.

"I've got a super special Grojband mission! You two up for it?"

The fan girls glanced at each other and screamed excitedly. Meanwhile, Tracy was also getting excited but for a different reason.

"We're about to find out who my new Macy will be!"

"New Macy?" Macy looked sad.

"Only my best friend can be called Macy, Macy. You'll be demoted to Macy Number 2!"

"Thanks for remembering me Tracy…"

Mayor Swellow held up a pop gun.

"Dogs get ready, dogs get set…hope the right dog wins cause Swellow placed a bet!"

The dogs began the race by jumping through a flaming hoop. Kin was starting to lose confidence when Cuddles and his owner took the lead on the logs. Corey showed up near the giant tube holding two magic wands.

"Hey boy!" he called. "It's magic time!"

"My magic drumsticks!" Kon snatched the drumsticks with his mouth and entered the giant tube. "Abracadabra!"

"NOW!" Corey signaled to Kelsey and Alyssa.

The girls placed a magic curtain at the end of the tube. Kon's magic drumsticks zapped the curtain and when Cuddles and his owner went through it, they disappeared. Kon rode Kin out of the tube safely. Mayor Swellow looked inside to see if Cuddles was coming out but he didn't see anything.

"Well, looks like Cuddles ran away!" he declared. "By way of default your winner is…"

Before Swellow could finish, Tracy already pounced on top of Kon-dog.

"Mine!" she giggled as Kon licked her repeatedly.

Jackie pulled out a razor and shaved off all of Kon's fur.

"Say hi to your new BFF Tracy!"

Tracy opened her eyes and was shocked and angered to see Kon.

"What? Jackie's drummer? EWWW!"

Kon however, still thought he was a dog and gave Tracy another slobbery lick. Tracy was getting ragey.

"It…licked…my…FAAAAACE!"

Tracy shot up into the air surrounded by a dog, a razor, and a dog collar. She grabbed her diary causing lightning to strike from above and dogs to get shot up high with fire. After the teenager finished writing, she fell back down to Earth landing between a group of dogs. Corey caught the diary and met up with his band mates.

"Let's get Kon that drum solo!"

The band headed toward the stage and started playing a song.

_I fought for you baby and I'd fight again_

_You weren't just my love, you were my best friend_

_You dog gone dog tagged my heart and sent it off to war_

_You gave my dog tired lovesick heart something to care for_

Kon started clapping his hands while barking and that's when he actually saw his hands.

"Huh? Dogs don't have fingers." He came upon a realization. "I must be a drummer! Drum solo!"

Kon ran onstage and started playing an amazing drum solo.

_You dog gone dog tagged my heart and sent it off to war_

_My dogs are barking up a storm and I ain't eatin' dog food no more_

_YEEAAAAAAAHHHH! OW!_

The dogs in the audience barked with joy and their owners applauded. Later, the band regrouped on stage after everyone left.

"Being a dog was great!" Kon told the others. "Everyone scratches your tummy and the world is your bathroom!"

Mayor Swellow joined the five. "You guys were great today. And so was your dog! Hey, where'd he go?"

Corey ignored the mayor's question and started giving his final thought.

"Thanks Mayor Swellow but we're done with hair!" a spotlight shined on Corey. "What matters in music is soul. And being a dog band grows hair on that soul! Then you have to wash the dandruff flakes off it or they cover up who you really are and you start acting like an animal! Instead of playing wicked guitar licks, you're just licking the faces of your fans."

The spotlight disappeared as Jackie looked toward Kon.

"Well Kon, know this. You may not be the cutest dog anymore, but you're still the cutest drummer!" she started scratching Kon on the tummy. "Yes you are! Yes you are!"

Kon laughed and Kin suddenly remembered something.

"Uh, hey Kon? You never did tell me where you got that hair tonic that made Jackie love you a lot?"

"What hair tonic?"

When Kon said these words, Kin fainted.

"There's still one thing I'm not sure about." Laney said. "What ever happened to Cuddles and his owner?"

That's when they both came down from the sky after being magically teleported.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**I'm just going to say this now because I know I'm going to get more complaints if I don't: this is the last chapter I have written up right now. There are no more chapters already written. That means there won't be any more updates until next week where I can set aside some time to write two more chapters. Right now, I really need to work on this paper, it's very important. So until then, I don't want to hear any more 'update now' or any other sort of comment that resembles it. Okay, that's all. See you next week!**


	21. Straight Ahead

**Finally found time to write another chapter. This one is based on "Line of Credit" which was requested by guest reviewer, Georgia. **

* * *

**Chapter 21**

**Straight Ahead**

"Welcome back to 'Scared Proper'! With our guest, Miss Behavior!" Buster Newsworthy announced on the TV screen.

"Check it Buster!" the girl across from him began. "I got my name because I was good at misbehaving and breaking all of the rules. I had cred."

"And your music was never more popular!"

"Right. But I got bored. I was tired of misbehaving all the time. So I went straight."

"And your music was never more popular!"

"Wanna see my new clothing line?"

Jackie and Grojband were crowded around the TV watching the show.

"So, all she did was stop breaking rules and she's a big deal?" Laney was confused.

"Well, duh!" Jackie remarked. "She was an even bigger deal before!"

"If it worked for her, it can work for us!" Corey declared. "Grojband is going straight!"

"Wait, how can you guys go straight if you haven't done anything wrong?" Jackie reminded her guitarist.

"I guess we have to be hardcore troublemakers first. Then we can go straight!"

"Uh, Core? Troublemakers usually get…you know, punished!" Laney pointed out.

"No way man!" Kon stood up. "Kin and me ain't going back to detention! We gotta hide bro!"

Kin quickly jumped inside his brother's mouth in order to hide inside of him.

"Uh, Kon? You guys don't even go to my school." Jackie said.

"Yeah, and besides we've never even gotten detention before." Kin added from Kon's belly.

"Oh yeah!" Kon belched loudly blasting Kin out of his body and smacking him right into Jackie. The keyboardist blushed at how close he was to her.

"Oh…hi Jackie…" Kin giggled. "You look great today…"

"Easy guys!" Corey reassured his friends. "We just need to pretend like we're trouble! So let's start fronting!"

Kin and Kon squealed. "Makeover!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Meanwhile, in another part of Tranquil Town, Tracy and Macy were saying goodbye to Rick Salary who was about to leave town for the weekend.

"Bye Rick!" Tracy said. "Have fun at Scooter Fest!"

The popular boy smiled. "Rick Salary always has fun at Scooter Fest."

Rick snapped his fingers and a group of screaming girls carried him and his scooter away. Once he was out of sight, Tracy began to cry.

"I can't believe Rick's going out of town! My life is over for a whole weekend!"

"Maybe you could start a hobby to get your mind off of Rick." Macy suggested.

"Wow, not a bad idea Mace! And I know just what to do! To the craft store!" Tracy ran away.

"Really?"

Back at the garage, Grojband had on brand new clothes to represent their brand new tough attitude. Laney looked in the mirror and saw her new spiky mohawk.

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

Jackie looked over her band's outfits.

"Wow…I gotta say, you guys certainly look…different…" She looked down at Corey's stretchy black jeans. "Corey, how are your jeans staying up?"

"By the power of pure toughness!" Corey took a step but the jeans held him back and he fell over.

"How do I look Jackie?" Kin leaned up against his crush. "Don't I look as tough as nails?"

Jackie noticed the way Kin was wearing his hat.

"Kin, I thought you got dizzy from wearing your hat sideways?"

Kin chuckled. "That was the old Kin! The new Kin can handle anythi-whoa!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Kin lost his balance and fell face first near Jackie's feet. He looked up at the manager and laughed nervously.

Tracy entered the garage with Macy who was carrying a ton of supplies she bought at the craft store.

"Beat it!" Tracy pulled out a paper bag and started drawing on it. "I need the garage to build the model of the perfect Tranquil Town that I want to live in with Rick when he gets back."

Tracy held up a paper bag puppet with Rick's face on it.

"It's a hobby and you're not part of it. So get outta here you little runts!"

Corey zipped up to Tracy with an angry expression.

"Listen up toots! You're talking to a new tough Grojband and this is our turf! So recognize!" The boy snapped his fingers.

Tracy gave Corey her meanest glare and he gave her one back. Then one of the eyes on Tracy's Rick puppet fell off.

"Rick blinked!" Corey exclaimed. "That counts as recognizing!"

Tracy scoffed and headed for the door to her house. "Whatever! I'll be back for you Beanie Boy!"

Macy followed Tracy to her room and the latter started dialing a number on her cell phone.

"So, Entourojband wants to be tough, huh? Well, tough guys get ratted out!"

"To who?" Macy asked.

"Duh! A TV show or something! Don't you know anything?"

A few minutes later, there was a loud banging coming from the garage door. Jackie walked up to the door and opened it up. She was surprised to see Buster Newsworthy being filmed by a cameraman. Buster stepped into the garage.

"A sneaky rat, your sister, told me that the toughest troublemakers in town are in this…" he paused. "What is this, a shed?"

"Um, no. It's a garage." Jackie replied.

"A garage? Perfect! Because it's time to do some routine maintenance on your band's young lives! We've heard that they need to be scared proper!"

"Tracy told on us?" Laney said. "We haven't done anything!"

"Yeah, but we've already scored a ton of hardcore cred! On TV!" Corey high-fived Laney even though she didn't want one.

"And the mayor has given me permission to lock you kids up!" Buster continued. "He's a big fan of the show."

Kin and Kon gasped.

"Uh, that wasn't a scared gasp." Corey explained. "Our breathing is just full of attitude. We can handle any cage! Dark, wet, drafty, full of snakes, maybe haunted! But we've had enough of being tough! We wanna go straight and help some kids so they don't turn out like us! And to prove we've changed for good, we're gonna visit the kids at Play Pen Max Security Daycare!"

Jackie gasped while Laney, Kin, and Kon look terrified. Buster looked over at the camera.

"Looks like we've got another Miss Behavior here! The nice one, not the one that stole my car."

Jackie quickly pulled Corey away from the cameras so she could talk with him privately.

"Core, are you out of your mind? Those kids at Play Pen are dangerous! And unlike you, actually cause trouble!"

"C'mon Jacks! If I thought we couldn't handle it, would I say…?" Corey looked back over at the camera. "Grojband is going to Play Pen! We'll show em what bad is, then tell em not to be it!"

The beanie-wearing kid growled as Kin lost his balance and fell again.

In Tracy's room, Macy had stapled an entire blueprint of Tracy's 'Perfect Tranquil Town' to the wall.

"Wow, three malls?" Macy exclaimed.

Tracy marked one of the malls with a heart.

"One for Rick and me to go to…"

She marked the second one with a smiley face.

"One for me to go to myself, for Tracy time…and one for everyone else!"

She crossed out the final mall.

"…But that one burned down."

Macy pointed to something on the blueprint.

"Is that a coliseum?"

"Well, where else is Rick gonna fight tigers shirtless?"

"Um, this is pretty big…we might need actual cement."

"And steel. You want Rick to fight in an unreinforced tiger dome? Also, learn to weld."

**TIGER CLAW TRANSITION!**

Jackie and Grojband had just arrived at the daycare. Each one of the band members had to take a mugshot before they were allowed to enter which was enough to show how serious the place was. After that, they were shown to the playroom where there were a bunch of toddlers in orange jumpsuits. Corey suddenly got the idea that Jackie was right about these kids. Two of them were holding down teddy bears and punching them in their stomachs, one was giving teddy bear skull tattoos, and one with an eye patch was lifting weights in the corner.

"Okay, this is a little more intimidating than I expected…" Corey said. "Who's the kid with the eye patch?"

"That's Junior Junior." Buster answered. "His dad's name is Junior and he was named after him. Get it? Try not to look at his patch."

"Aww, check out the cutie with the eye patch!" Kon cooed kneeling down to the rouge toddler's height. "Are roo a piwate?"

Offended, Junior Junior grabbed Kon by the lips and slammed him against the floor repeatedly. Afterwards, he stuffed a milk bottle into his right nostril.

"Sniver me flimbers…" Kon moaned.

"Yep, that's what happened to me." Buster recalled.

"So what now Hard-Core?" Laney asked.

"We show these toddlers who we want them to think they're dealing with!" Corey jumped onto a table, crushing the crackers the kids were eating for a snack. "Listen up drool fools! We're Grojband, the toughest band on the streets of Tranquil Town! You think you're front page of the bad news? Ha! You're more like that little flyer that falls out and you don't even notice! And even if you did, maybe you'd be all excited for like a second because maybe there's a sale on bubble gum and unicorns! So you pick it up, but then you see it's only for lawn care! But you wouldn't even know that because you can't read yet! And even if you could, it still wouldn't matter because you don't even own a lawn! Grr…." Corey growled finishing his speech.

Unfortunately, the kids weren't scared like Corey thought they were going to be. One of them came up to the blue-haired singer and spat his pacifier into his mouth causing him to choke. Another one on a pogo stick jumped onto Kin's head and bit into it making the boy in glasses scream in terror. A third kid used a lasso to tie up Kon and pull him away. Junior Junior stepped up to the table.

"If you guys are the toughest they could send, Tranquil Town can't handle us!" he said.

The eye patch kid kicked the table causing Corey to fall and spit out the pacifier. Junior Junior caught it in his hand and looked up at Jackie.

"Hey gorgeous. Wanna share a bottle and cuddle up in my blankie?"

"Aren't you a little young to be flirting with a 14 year old?" Jackie questioned.

"Aren't you a little too cool to be hanging around a bunch of dorks like them?"

Kin had finally gotten the kid on his head off and he had heard the two's conversation.

"No…" Kin growled angrily. "That's my woman!"

He charged toward Junior Junior ready to destroy him, but Junior Junior dropped his blanket in front of him causing Kin to slip and crash into the wall.

"Beat it Four Eyes." Junior Junior signaled to the other kids. "C'mon boys! We're bustin' out of here!"

As soon as he had said this, an alarm started going off. All of the toddlers started making a run for it, knocking over Buster Newsworthy and the cameraman on the way. A guard tried to stop them by blocking the exit, but they ran over him too.

"You've started a jailbreak!" Buster told the gang.

"I'm sure they'll tire themselves out soon!" Corey smiled sheepishly.

Kin removed his face from the wall and fell over again.

**I WOULDN'T COUNT ON IT!**

Macy was hard at work in the garage trying to please her best friend. At the moment, she was working on a scale model of the castle Tracy wanted to live in with Rick.

"Okay, I hand carved the Rick gargoyles for your love castle walls, built a drawbridge, because they're romantic, and welded the drawbridge closed so Rick can never leave." Macy informed the dark-haired teenager who was sipping from a soda cup.

"And while you were doing that, I decided we need a thousand foot tall statue of Rick with a staircase to his lips so I can climb up and kiss them!"

"A thousand feet? To scale, right?"

"Yes! In ultra heavy marble. Designing the perfect Tranquil Town is so much fun!"

Macy just sighed and started welding again.

Outside, the town was in absolute chaos. The buildings were on fire, people were running in a panic, and the toddlers were shooting everyone with dart guns. The troublemakers made their way to the candy store and robbed it clean before completely destroying an ice cream truck and emptying its contents.

Jackie and Grojband were watching the scene the whole time and they knew that they were in trouble.

"We're totally gonna get blamed for this!" Laney said.

Kin looked behind him and saw Buster and the cameraman filming everything.

"I think we already are."

"After being ratted out by the manager's sister, Grojband appeared to be going straight…" Buster reported. "But in truth, they started what any responsible newscaster would call…'a rugrat riot'!"

"I knew this was a bad idea from the start!" Jackie exclaimed. She and the others went into a huddle. "Okay look, we can't let these kids wreck my town."

"Can't we just pretend it's not happening?" Kin asked.

"No Kin. These kids are our responsibility now." Jackie glanced over at Corey. "And whose fault is that Corey?"

The front man looked down in guilt.

"You're right Jacks. I thought we could front our way to cred, but I was wrong. We need to earn it with what we do best! We need to rock these kids straight!"

"Uh, if there were any lyrics around here, I'm pretty sure Junior Junior already stole them." Laney pointed out.

"Hm…" Jackie thought about it. "Junior Junior wants to take over a town, and Tracy's building one in the garage! Put them both together, and we'll get a diary explosion!"

Jackie spotted Junior Junior and his accomplices near the candy store. Suddenly, the little leader heard sirens in the distance.

"The cops!" he gasped. "Tear up boys! We might have to cry our way out of this!"

Jackie met up with the baby gang.

"You guys need a place to hide until they give up looking for you! Our garage is perfect!"

Junior Junior shrugged.

"Why not? Thanks sweet stuff. Hey, you do have apple juice back at your place dontcha?"

Tracy examined the statue of Rick that she had forced Macy to build for her.

"I guess it's okay." She shrugged. "But if I don't get all wibbly when I kiss it, you're making another one."

"But that took me twelve-"

"Price of wibbles Macy." Tracy leaned in to kiss the fake Rick but was interrupted when the garage door opened and she saw Jackie, Grojband, and a bunch of babies!

"Spread out crew!" Junior Junior ordered. "This is our new crib!"

The toddlers ran into the garage and immediately started trashing Tracy's model town.

"Hey sis!" Jackie greeted. "I met some new friends. Hope you don't mind if they hang out in the garage."

"Whaaaa?" Tracy saw the kids messing up her stuff and growled.

Junior Junior snapped his fingers.

"Hey ladies! Get some orange slices going!"

"Get out of my town you tiny stinkbags!" Tracy commanded. "This is Perfect Tranquil Town! The only things allowed here are me and my dreams of hunky Rick Salary!"

"You mean this guy?" Junior Junior pointed to the statue of Rick which now had a dirty diaper on top of it. "Looks like he needs to be changed."

"Gasp!" Tracy went. "Grr…stop pooping on my PERFECT TRANQUIL TOWN!"

Tracy blasted out of the garage surrounded by rattles, teddy bears, and baby food. She summoned her diary and wrote in it causing the babies' bottles to shoot out fire. When the teen finished writing, she slowly floated back toward the ground, landing at the feet of the Rick statue while Corey caught the diary.

Buster Newsworthy entered the scene being filmed.

"Jackie Matthews, you've sparked toddler rampage, and now you're hiding the tiny terrors from the law?"

"That's right Buster! Because my band is gonna scare em proper!"

"You'll need to explain that."

"Sure! But I'll let them do the talking." Jackie gestured to Grojband and they started their song.

_You wanna act tough?_

_You think you're real rough?_

_I think you're nothing yeah well now I'm gonna call your bluff_

_You wanna wreck stuff you little cream puffs?_

_What's up?_

_I just met you and already I've had enough_

_So knock it off! (Knock it off!)_

_That's far enough! Just knock it off! (Say what?)_

_I've had enough!_

_Knock it off! (Knock it off!)_

_That's far enough! Just knock it off!_

_Because I've had enough! _

_Whoo!_

_You should listen up_

_It's time to straighten up_

_Or I swear I'll take away your little sippy cup_

_And your blankie, and your books, and your toys, and your teddy_

_And I'll send you all up to beddy_

_Cause the big bad world don't care if you're ready_

_So knock it off! (Knock it off!)_

_That's far enough! Just knock it off! (Say what?)_

_I've had enough!_

_Knock it off (Knock it off!)_

_That's far enough! Just knock it off!_

_Because I've had enough! _

_Whoo!_

Corey looked down at the toddlers.

"What did we learn today kids?"

"To be good or else!" Junior Junior answered.

"That's right! Now get out of here!" Corey ordered. "It's nap time!"

All of the kids ran out of the garage except for Junior Junior who was held back by Kin.

"And remember this Junior Junior, Jackie is my lady, so stay away from her!" Kin yelled. "Got it?!"

"Okay, okay! Got it!" Junior Junior walked away. "Freak."

Kin folded his arms and smiled, that is, until he fell over from his sideways hat.

"Your crazy plan cost the city dozens of dollars in damages." Buster said to Jackie. "But you and your band have scared Play Pen straight!"

"All part of the plan Buster!" Jackie responded. "These little guys didn't need a speech, they needed a show!"

"What you did today deserves some serious cred!"

"Thanks Buster!" a spotlight shined on Corey. "But cred is for real. You can't keep it real when you're fronting. Because soon you have to back up that front and then you're going down. And that's what's up."

"Can one of you translate that for me?" Buster asked but the others shook their heads.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

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**Hopefully I'll get Chapter 22 done tomorrow but in the meantime, leave me some more suggestions because I'm almost running out. See you next time!**


	22. Video Lame

**Wow, so glad the server is working again. I was afraid I wouldn't get to upload this today! Anyway, now that everything's back to normal, here's the next chapter. This one is based on 'Dueling Buttons' which was requested by guest reviewer, Madison Wooten, and AvrilLavigneFan2001.**

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**Chapter 22**

**Video Lame**

"Let the games begin!" Laney declared placing the final checkers piece on the game board between Kin and Kon.

"Uh, Laney? That's another chapter." Kin replied.

Kon took a closer look at the checkerboard.

"Hey, where are the game controllers? How am I supposed to move these things without a game controller?"

"Uh, Kon? It's a board game." Laney told the clueless drummer. "There are no controllers."

Kin laughed. "Then how can you call this a game?"

Corey and Jackie entered the garage.

"Hey guys! It's game time!" Corey announced. "The Solo Shredder Mobile Arena for Virtual Guitar Battle just rolled into the Tranquil Town mall!"

"Yeah! It's so cool!" Jackie exclaimed. "At least it would be if I knew what Solo Shredder is…"

Kin and Kon gasped excitedly. "We do! We do! We do!"

Jackie giggled. "Let me guess, Rock Lore?"

"You know it Jacks!" Kon joined hands with Kin and they began to tell the game's backstory.

"Solo Shredder is the rockingest video game ever created!" Kin narrated. "Players must mash their wicked guitar playing to the game's wickeder guitar tunes!"

"Savage Frank is the Solo Shredder master!" Kon added. "And the sickest gamer ever!"

"His high score was judged by actual scientists to be 1000% unbeatable!"

"Well science isn't very good at math!" Corey decided.

"Why? Because 1000 isn't a possible percentage?" Jackie guessed.

"Nope! Cause I'm gonna beat that high score!" Corey flicked his guitar pick while Kin and Kon gasped.

"Why would you care about some dumb video game Corey?" Jackie asked.

"Whoever beats Frank's high score gets their own character avatar in the game! When Solo Shredder: Grojband Edition comes out, we'll be huge!"

"And we don't even need lyrics!" Kin punched Laney lightly in the arm. "It's a guitar game! All you have to do is shred!"

"Wow, what's Tracy gonna do in this chapter?" Kon wondered aloud.

**I BET SHE'LL DO SOMETHING NICE!**

A huge crowd of gamers surrounded the center of the Tranquil Town mall where a giant stage was placed. On the stage was a TV screen showing a boy in glasses.

"Welcome everyone to the Solo Shredder Mobile Arena for Virtual Guitar Battle!" the boy said. "I'm Savage Frank!"

"And I'm Corey Riffin!" Corey stepped onto the stage and faced the screen. "And I challenge your high score!"

The crowd gasped but Frank just rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Ugh…of course you do. It wouldn't be a Solo Shredder weekend without people failing to beat my high score and leaving me doomed to host yet another Solo Shredder weekend. But we're here for head to head battles! So, who wants to battle Corey Riffin?"

Tracy and Macy were walking around the mall when they saw what was going on in the center of it.

"Ugh! Seriously!" Tracy complained. "Between this nerd herd wasting oxygen and Jackie and her dumb band in my sights, my malling experience is ruined!"

"Hi Rick!" Macy called out.

"Rick?!" Tracy kicked her best friend away so Rick wouldn't see her and walked up to her crush. "Ugh, can you believe how lame these gamer boys are?"

"Rick digs games." Rick said. "Gamer dudes and gamer girls."

"Gamer girls?" Tracy was disgusted and confused. "Really?"

"I'm kind of a big deal here." Corey bragged from the stage. "I'm not surprised that no one's challenging me."

Tracy zipped on to the stage and waved her hand in the air frantically.

"I wanna play this game! Because I'm totally into gaming! So cool, right Rick?"

Rick nodded. "Potentially, yes."

"Tracy?!" Corey burst out laughing. "If you're gonna rock against me, you'd better be totally into shaming!"

"Oooh…" Jackie went.

"Oh no he didn't!" Kin cried.

Two more screens showing the Solo Shredder game came down onto the stage.

"Players, choose your rock icon!" Savage Frank said.

Corey scrolled through the icon choices and finally picked one shaped like a skull. Tracy chose one that looked like Rick. The teen squealed.

"My icon thingy looks just like you Rick!"

"Rick's status as an icon has been truly confirmed." Rick smiled.

The stage opened up and two guitar controllers showed up in a cloud of smoke.

"Challengers, grab your instruments!"

When Corey got a hold of his 'guitar' he realized what a terrible mistake he had made.

"Hey, where are the guitar strings?" he pressed a few of the buttons but was still very confused. "What's with the star, moon, and rainbow buttons? What am I supposed to do with this thing? Make cookies?"

"Core, have you even played this game before?" Jackie asked from the audience.

"Well, actually no." Corey responded sheepishly. "I guess I assumed I'd be good because it's a guitar game."

"Players, ready…set…SHRED!"

Corey looked up at the screen where skull icons were appearing on bars. He started pressing buttons randomly which unfortunately made him lose points in the game.

"Wait! This is a new version! I don't know what I'm doing!" Corey panicked. "How does this dumb guitar even work?!"

Savage Frank observed Corey's score which was pretty much nil.

"Ouch! Looks like Corey needs more rehearsal!"

Jackie and the rest of the band cringed in fear at Corey's poor performance. The audience, however, was cheering because Tracy was putting on a real show.

"Rick Ricky Rick Ricky Rick Rick!" she sang while playing the notes perfectly.

"Tracy Matthews is off to a rockin' lead!" Savage Frank announced. "While Corey learns why we don't run our mouths off like hot shots!"

Corey began to cry as his score hit rock bottom.

"Whoa, how is this happening?" Jackie pondered.

"It's the power of love at work." Kin explained. "Tracy's doing well because she likes touching Rick's face. I kind of get it though. I mean, if your face was an icon, I'd never wanna miss a note!"

"What?" Jackie looked down at Kin and he turned red.

"Nothing!"

Tracy continued to dominate the game until the song ended. Corey looked up at his screen and found out that he had zero points.

"Whoa! Tracy Matthews is the winner!" Savage Frank declared.

"What? I lost to Tracy?" Corey stood blank as the audience went wild for Tracy.

The teenage singer got on his knees.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

"Aw man, poor Core…" Jackie noted.

"When someone falls to their knees and screams 'no', something is wrong right?" Kon asked Kin.

"Last time you did that, you just burnt your popcorn." Kin responded.

"This isn't that bad is it?" Kon got on his knees. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

**BURNT POPCORN TRANSITION!**

For two days, Corey had been playing Solo Shredder non-stop. He hadn't slept a wink and he hadn't bathed either. All he did was sit on the couch with his bloodshot eyes wide open, pressed buttons on the guitar controller, and talked to himself.

"Gotta get good…gotta have rematch…gotta beat Tracy…gotta beat Tracy…gotta beat Tracy…"

Jackie, Laney, Kin, and Kon were starting to get worried for the front man, not just because he hadn't eaten or slept, but also because he was getting progressively worse at the game which meant he would be playing it for even longer.

"So, it's that bad…" Laney sniffed the air. "And what's that stench?"

"Eventually, the gamer becomes so obsessed, a shield of toxic stink forms to ward off interventions." Kin told the bassist.

"Man, that's like a force ten stink shield!" Kon observed.

"Gotta beat Tracy…gotta beat Tracy…gotta beat Tracy…"

"Guys, he's not gonna quit the game until he gets good! And at this rate, he could be playing the game forever!" Jackie cried.

"His mind is bent on beating Tracy." Kin noted.

"Well, maybe you could bend it elsewhere." Jackie put a hand on Kin's shoulder. "You are the smartest guy I know."

Kin gave a high pitch gasp and giggled.

"Oh Jackie, you say the nicest things about me…"

"Gotta beat Tracy…gotta beat Tracy…gotta beat Tracy…" Corey continued.

Kin held up a sign with a hypnotic spiral on it.

"Hey Corey? Look over here a sec."

Corey rolled one of his eyeballs to where Kin was standing.

"You don't need to beat Tracy…" Kin chanted. "You don't like this game…you don't need to beat Tracy…you don't like this game…you don't need to beat Tracy…"

"Gotta beat Tracy…gotta beat Tracy…"

Kin saw that Kon was now sitting on the couch repeating the exact same words Corey was using. He whacked his brother on the head with his hypnotic device to snap him out of it.

"Dude, seriously?"

Jackie took a look at Corey's shredding hand and was disturbed at how crooked his fingers were.

"Ew…what's up with his hand Kin?"

"It's the gamer claw. Soon his hand will be rendered useless for anything other than Solo Shredder!"

"Or maybe scaring babies!" Kon laughed evilly.

"Kon! That's totally beyond mean!" Jackie scolded.

"Maybe if we put a real guitar back in his hand, he'll snap out of his obsession!" Laney suggested.

"Yeah! That could work!" Jackie snapped her fingers. "Great idea Laney!"

"Couldn't we just take him to a daycare to watch the fireworks instead?" Kin asked.

Jackie and Laney gave the nerdy keyboardist a glare.

"We'll get the amps…" he sighed.

Jackie picked up Corey's old guitar while Kin and Kon slipped the fake one out of his hands. Luckily for them, he was too into the game to notice his controller was gone. But as soon as he felt his old guitar strings, he was very confused.

"Huh? What is this?"

"It's what your obsession made you forget." Laney told him.

"The real guitar you love to play!" Kin nodded.

"In a real band with us!" Kon added.

"And playing on a real guitar is a talent Tracy can't beat you at." Jackie put a hand on the blue-haired boy's back. "C'mon Core. Play it. Come back to us."

"But…where are the buttons?" Corey examined his guitar. "I can't use this to beat Tracy!"

He dropped the cherry red instrument on the ground and picked up the Solo Shredder controller.

"There! That's better…"

"He can't play the guitar anymore!" Kin shouted.

"We're doomed!" Kon screamed.

"ENOUGH OF THIS GAME!" Laney charged toward Corey and kicked the fake guitar out of his hands causing the guitar to hit the TV and turn it on.

"Buster Newsworthy here! Tracy Matthews has not only embarrassed the talentless lead singer of her sister's band, but her new single 'Rick Ricky Rick' is the hottest thing in music!"

The camera turned over to Tracy who was holding her Solo Shredder guitar.

"I am the gamer queen!" she jumped with joy. "So cool, right Rick?"

Rick came onto the stage. "Officially."

Tracy started to move her fingers across the hunk's face.

"I've waited forever to play with Rick's face, and now I can do it all the time! It's the best! I guess I'm just awesome at writing song words and stuff."

"And now you're going to completely destroy this small boy in your next battle!" Buster introduced a boy in glasses. "Good luck!"

Tracy glared at the boy for he looked too happy.

"Wipe that smile off your face loser! I'm the only one who gets to smile because I'm a winner!"

"Her song?!" Corey shut off the TV. "Hottest thing in music?! Grr…"

Jackie started to rub the beanie-wearing teen's shoulders.

"Breathe…"

"I've been breathing my whole life! And it's got me nothing! And now Tracy has a hit song! She has my dream! And I can't even master a FAKE GUITAR!"

"Core! Calm down! It's okay." Jackie insisted.

Corey sighed. "Sorry Jacks. Guys, I need some time alone."

"Okay Core." Laney said.

Corey was just about ready to calm down until Kon started humming a familiar tune.

"Ricky, Ricky, Ricky roo…"

"Stop singing that!" Corey demanded. "It's not even a real song! It doesn't have any real lyrics! Wait! Wait…"

Corey stood still in thought.

"Hm…wait some more…"

Kon whispered to Jackie.

"I think we broke Corey…"

"That's it!" Corey beamed. "I didn't have lyrics! I wasn't performing! I was just clicking buttons! I'm a front man, and a front man performs! If I have lyrics, I'll own that rematch!"

"Good to have you back Core!" Jackie smiled.

"There's still one problem Jacks." Laney interrupted. "Corey still stinks at the game and we don't have lyrics."

"Yeah, you're right…" Jackie rubbed her chin. "Hm…I got it! Tracy was good at Solo Shredder because she likes touching Rick's face! But if we get her to touch my face, that diary will open right up! Kin, take my photo! Time to get Tracy's digits all up on this!" Jackie pointed to her face.

Kin's eyes filled with hearts.

"Ooh…I know I'd like to get my digits up on that…"

"What was that Kin?"

"Uh…nothing!"

Back at the mall, Tracy had won yet another round of the game.

"The winner! Again! Tracy Matthews!" Savage Frank cheered.

"It's so cool that I'm the best at this game thingy I just learned existed!" Tracy cried.

"Stop!" a voice came from the crowd.

Tracy looked ahead of her and saw Jackie and Grojband standing on the stage with her. Corey was up front holding a controller.

"You're not the best until you beat the best!" he said. "Twice! I want a rematch!"

Tracy rolled her eyes. "Whatevs! And not likely! Rematches are uncool. Right Rick?"

But Rick had a completely different idea.

"Rick believes rematches are a cool way to determine skill from luck!"

Tracy scowled knowing that she had to agree with whatever Rick said.

"It's so on!"

"Will this challenge decide a new high score winner?" Savage Frank asked. "Boy, I hope so…"

"Okay Kin!" Jackie began. "Do your thing!"

"Whatever you say my love…" Kin sighed. "Uh…I mean…my fellow companion!"

Kin pulled out a USB cable and plugged it into Tracy's screen. All of the faces of Rick turned into faces of Jackie. Tracy peered closer at the screen.

"Is that…Jackie?!" Tracy dropped her controller in disgust. "Ew! I'm not touching her gross, non-Rick face!"

"Tracy!" Macy shouted from the audience. "You've stopped dominating!"

Sure enough, the red-head was right because Tracy was losing all of her hard earned points. And while she was losing points, Rick was losing interest in her.

"Rick thinks it's cooler when gamer girls are good at games." He walked off. "Later."

"No! Rick!" Tracy growled. "I did this for Rick's face…and now I'm losing to Beanie Boy's face!"

The angry teen ripped her controller in half in rage. "Tracy you can't win without a game controller!" Macy reminded her.

"Looks like Tracy forfeits!" Savage Frank announced. "Corey is the winner!"

Corey threw his arms into the air and soaked up all of the fame. Tracy's breathing got heavier until finally she let out an angry scream. She shot up into the air surrounded by pixel versions of Jackie's face. Her diary floated towards her and she started writing flames in it. The screens on stage were soon set on fire including the one Savage Frank was trapped in. Tracy held out her burning pen for she was finished writing and she fell back down to earth. Corey caught her diary and he and the band started singing a remade version of Tracy's song.

_Corey: Sick tricky lick and a pick flick_

_Playing head to head in this game_

_Once I'm done with you, you won't be the same_

_Mashing buttons is a lame-o trick_

_Sick tricky lick and a pick flick_

_I got the high score_

_Cause I'm the front man_

_I'll jam a phat riff_

_And melt your face off_

_All: Immortalize me_

_Corey: I'm the front man_

_Laney, Kin, and Kon: He's the front man_

_Corey: Obsessed with being gamer number one_

_No time to sit around and suck a thumb_

_Let's go, let's get it on_

_What makes you tick?_

_All: Sick tricky lick and a pick flick_

_Corey: I got the high score_

_Cause I'm the front man_

_I'll jam a phat riff_

_And melt your face off_

_All: Immortalize me_

_Corey: I'm the front man_

_Laney, Kin, and Kon: He's the front man_

_All: Sick tricky lick and a pick flick_

_Sick tricky lick and a pick flick_

The crowd screamed in delight at the band's song and Corey beating Savage Frank's high score. Tracy folded her arms and met up with Macy off stage.

"This was such a waste of malling time!" she grumbled. "So long lamers!"

"Finally!" Savage Frank sighed with relief. "Somebody beat my high score! I can quit this job and get out of this huge screen! Corey, are you ready to be the new face of Solo Shredder?"

"Not really Frank." A spotlight shined on Corey. "You shouldn't just be the face of a game. Music is more than that. It's real. And when you treat real life like a game, a stink shield of shame envelops you and you end up forcing your friends to breathe in the toxic particles of your abandonment."

Kon sniffled and started crying tears of joy from Corey's beautiful speech. Laney on the other hand, was looking annoyed.

"If you needed lyrics, why didn't you just sing those? Instead of smelling like a tire fire?"

"Seriously though." Frank said. "Can somebody let me out? I'm a guy. Trapped in a box. C'mon."

The others laughed. Jackie pulled her arm around Corey.

"Well, I'm just glad this whole gaming nonsense is over." Suddenly, the brunette realized one of her band members was missing. "Hey, wait a second! Where's Kin?"

The four looked behind them and saw the keyboardist playing Solo Shredder with Jackie's face as an icon.

"I will never stop playing this game!" he squealed excitedly. "Must…touch…Jackie's…face…"

"Oh yeah. Forgot about that other obsession we always have to deal with." Laney rolled her eyes.

"What other obsession?" Jackie tried to see what Kin was doing but Kon blocked her view.

"You don't wanna know." He told her.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

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**Just a reminder, after two more chapters, I will start using original suggestions that are not based on episodes. So for those of you who have requested such things, please remain patient. See you later!**


	23. Puppeteer of Fear

**Man, I had a really hard time coming up with a title for this chapter. Also took me a long time to write it since my computer kept crashing and I had to write a lot of the content over again. Anyway, hope it is worth the wait. This chapter is based on "No Strings Attached" which was requested by DragonQueen103. She also requested to have this chapter have something to do with Five Nights at Freddy's but I have to decline this suggestion because I already made plans for this chapter. However, I will say that FNAF will come into play eventually (probably around Chapter 50, possibly earlier if I don't have that many requests) so be on the lookout ;).**

* * *

**Chapter 23**

**Puppeteer of Fear**

Kin and Laney were sitting on the couch in the garage waiting for the others to show up for rehearsal. Jackie was still coming home from school, Kon was in the bathroom playing 'Giant' with the tiny soaps, and Corey was who knows where. Laney looked up from her magazine and saw Kin chewing something.

"Um, what are you eating?" she asked.

"Grilled cheese sandwich." Kin swallowed the last bit of food from his mouth.

"Where did you get that?"

"Found it on the coffee table."

"And you just picked it up and ate the whole thing? Who knows where it's been?"

"Laney, it's grilled cheese. I couldn't just let it sit there. It was calling to me. It was saying: 'Eat me Kin. I can't stand being left alone. Eat me. Eat me.'"

Laney rolled her eyes. "Sure. Anyway, where's Kon? He's been in the bathroom for twenty whole minutes!"

Just then, Kon came out of the bathroom holding two tiny bars of soap shaped like people.

"I'm sorry little guys. I can't stay in your happy kingdom forever." He said to the soaps. "I'm on a very important quest that can't be interrupted by your tiny slippery bodies…what? What is this quest that's so important that I have to leave you guys forever? I'll tell you…" Kon dropped the soaps on the ground.

"Eating my grilled cheese! Woohoo!"

The drummer ran to where Laney and Kin were and gasped when he saw the empty plate on the coffee table.

"My grilled cheese!" he picked up the plate and tears filled his eyes. "It's gone! Why did it have to go without leaving me a note?"

Laney glanced over at Kin who had a guilty expression on his face.

"Oh…that was your sandwich?" Kin chuckled. "Yeah...listen Kon…it didn't go away…see…um…I ate it."

"You WHAT?!" Kon yelled exasperated.

"Sorry dude. I was hungry. And you can't just leave grilled cheese sandwiches alone. They have to be eaten. It's their destiny."

Kon was very angry. He lifted his brother off of the couch and pulled him toward his face.

"You've done the unspeakable Kin. Eating my sandwich was the worst mistake you've ever made. Now, you've gotta pay the price."

"Dude, it was just a sandwich." Kin tried to defend himself. "I'll make you another one."

"It's too late for that! You've already ruined my life by eating the first one."

"I don't understand. What do you want then?"

Kon dropped Kin on the ground.

"I want revenge. I want you to suffer for what you've done. I want you to drown in your own sea of guilt knowing that you've done something horrible." Kon got in Kin's face. "Let this be known to you Kin…I will have my revenge!"

Kon pointed at his eyes and then back at Kin and he slowly slithered back into the bathroom. Kin just shrugged and sat back down.

"Aren't you worried about what he'll do to you?" Laney asked.

"Nah. Not really." Kin replied. "He'll forget about the whole thing once Corey comes in with another crazy plan."

"Guys look!"

Corey came into the garage with Jackie looking very excited. He was holding a flyer with colorful cartoon characters on it.

"Captain Carney and the Bubble Bunch Band exist in this world!" he showed the flyer to Kin and Laney who just gave each other confused looks. "He's a ship captain who works at a carnival. They're a colorful band in a bubble."

"Core, I don't see what the big deal is." Jackie said.

"Aw c'mon Jacks! You said you loved the Bubble Bunch Band!"

"When I was three!"

Corey hugged the flyer to his chest. "I can't believe they exist here too! Those guys are an inspiration!"

Suddenly, the door burst open and Tracy and Macy stepped in.

"Try abomination!" Tracy smiled evilly. "Like all puppets!"

"Puppets?!" Corey was offended. "If legendary front man Bobby Blue was just a puppet, would he have inspired me to start my own band?"

"Hold it!" Tracy interrupted. "Are you saying your dingus band only exists because of the Bubble Bunch?"

"For sure!" Corey nodded. "Minus the mean stuff."

That's when the selfish teenaged girl and the singing front man both came up with their own ideas.

"_I should destroy the Bubble Bunch!_" Tracy thought.

"_I should thank the Bubble Bunch!_" Corey thought.

Tracy left with Macy so they could discuss her plan while Corey explained his plan to everyone else.

"Okay guys, first we'll head to the studio and watch the Bubble Bunch play their new song. Then, we'll throw a super awesome party to show how grateful we are to them for getting Grojband started!"

Kon came out of the bathroom.

"Whoa! That's like the coolest idea ever!" he exclaimed. "I suddenly forgot why I was so mad before!"

"See?" Kin looked over at Laney. "Told ya."

**TOILET PAPER WIPE!**

Tracy was telling Macy her latest idea of ruining Grojband.

"If those puppets inspired that blue-haired loser to make lame music, then destroying those puppets should outspire him to make lame music!" Tracy decided.

"I never knew you hated puppets Tracy." Macy said.

"I don't like to talk about it." Tracy explained. "But I'll remember it in my head."

Tracy recalled the time when she was four years old and her parents had taken her to the toy store. She remembered how excited she had been especially when she found the puppet aisle.

"Pwetty puppet!" she had said when she spotted a princess puppet on the shelf. She stood on her tiptoes to reach it but ended up knocking over a ton of other toys from the shelves and they fell on her head. She got back up and hugged the princess puppet. Suddenly, another puppet with a moustache and evil looking smile jumped up in front of her.

"Scawy puppet!" Tracy screamed and ran away from the puppet but then another one that looked like an evil clown blocked her path.

"Help me pwetty puppet!" Tracy had begged to the princess puppet in her hands. But when she looked down, the princess puppet had a scary face and sharp teeth. Young Tracy had screamed in terror and since then, Tracy had never gotten near puppets again.

Meanwhile, Jackie and the gang had arrived at the studio where Captain Carney's show was filmed and sat in the audience where a bunch of three-year-olds were sitting.

"Hey kids!" Captain Carney greeted from the stage.

"Hey captain!" Corey and the kids shouted back.

"What's that sound going on kids?" the captain held a telescope to his ear.

"It's the Bubble Bunch Band!"

"It sure is!" Captain Carney walked to where Jackie and the band was sitting. "Ahoy there kids! Step right up! Step right up! Come one come all! Be the first to see the Bubble Bunch Band play their new jamboree!"

The jolly captain exited the stage and the curtain opened up revealing four different colored animatronics. The animatronics started playing their instruments and sang a song.

Corey gasped. "It's Bobby Blue! And he hasn't aged a bit!"

Jackie whispered to Laney.

"He's not the only one who hasn't aged…"

That's when things started to get rough. There was something going on with Bobby Blue's face. It almost looked like it was melting. Corey's smile of inspiration turned into a frown of horror as he watched his favorite animatronic band disintegrate.

"Bobby Blue! Randy Red! Gary Green! Yusuf Yellow! What's happening?!"

"I have no idea!" Jackie responded. "But this is quite a show!"

"I'll say!" Kin leaned up against the manager with hearts coming out of him. "You and I share so many interests…"

"NOOOOO!" Corey screamed. "How are you all still playing?!"

It wasn't long before all four members of the Bubble Bunch were nothing but smoldering endoskeletons lying on the ground. Kids started running around in a panic over their favorite band getting destroyed. Tracy came out from behind the stage curtain and smiled.

"Where's your inspiration now Fromojband? That's right! I melted it!"

"Well, actually I melted it." Macy told her friend. Her hair was a frizzy mess after being electrically shocked. One of Randy Red's arms fell on top of Macy's head which made Tracy shriek.

"Scary puppet!" the long-haired girl grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and blasted Macy with it.

After all of the children were safely escorted out of the building, Captain Carney and his partner, Carney Kid, looked over the remains of the Bubble Bunch Band. Jackie and Grojband stayed behind to see if there was anything they could do to help (even though Corey was the only one who really wanted to help and the rest were forced to stay).

"It don't look good kids." Captain Carney was smoking a bubble pipe. "Band's all melted into goo. Course I seen worse in the navy. Sharks, sailor guts, even sharks puking up sailor guts! But you kids don't need that story."

"Aww…" Kin and Kon whined.

"Captain Carney?" Corey spoke up. "The Bubble Bunch Band inspired me to make music when I was a kid. So we're gonna take their places and inspire kids the same way they did!"

"Wait, you are?" Jackie wasn't sure about Corey's plan.

"Tell you what kids." Captain Carney began. "If you can turn yourselves into an animatronic puppet band with a brand new song by 0800 hours tomorrow…"

"Sounds reasonable." Corey shook the captain's hand.

"Then you'll have yourselves a deal!"

Later, the five friends returned to the garage. Corey placed the original flyer he had received onto a bulletin board. The faces of the Bubble Bunch Band now had pictures of Corey and the other three band members over them.

"Can you believe we're going to be the next Bubble Bunch Band?" Corey exclaimed. "This is a dream come true!"

"It's your dream come true." Laney stated. "I just can't watch you fail. Hopefully, I'll grow out of that."

"Listen to me Core." Jackie said. "I'm your manager and I love what I do. I wouldn't trade this job for anything. But how are we gonna turn you guys into an animatronic puppet band and write a new song by 8 tomorrow morning? I have limits you know!"

"No sweat Jacks!" Corey reassured the brunette. "I already ordered the puppets! They'll be arriving right about…"

A few seconds went by and then the doorbell rang.

"There we go!"

Corey ran out of the garage to answer the door and he came back carrying four boxes. He opened up one of them and gave the other three to his bandmates. Inside the boxes were puppet versions of Grojband.

Jackie picked up the Kin and Kon puppets.

"Wow, these are really accurate! Way to go Core!"

"Um…there's something wrong with mine…" Laney lifted up the puppet of herself which had five o clock shadow and a moustache.

"Nope!" Kon shook his head.

"Spitting image!" Kin agreed.

"So accurate!" Corey claimed.

Laney growled in annoyance and Jackie put a hand on her gal pal's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it Laney. Boys just don't know true beauty when they see it."

The red-head smiled feeling a little better, that is, until Kin shoved her out of the way so he could get to Jackie. Hearts filled the young scientist's eyes.

"I know true beauty when I see it."

**THE PUPPET LOOKS LIKE A DUDE!**

Tracy was in her room pacing back and forth, trying to think of a new plan to destroy her sister's band.

"I don't believe this! I melt that loser's inspiration and he makes an even grosser puppet band? This calls for an even grosser-er plan!"

"Will I get burned again?" Macy asked nervously.

Tracy walked over to her dresser and pulled out a container filled with a strange green substance.

"Oh, you'll find out Mace. All in good time. All in good time…"

"Is now a good time?"

Tracy groaned. "Yes. Now is a good time."

Back in the garage, the band had put on special mocap suits that came with their puppets.

"This is great guys! With these mocap suits, we can control the puppets from backstage! They'll mimic our every move!" Corey demonstrated by moving around and his puppet copied him. Kon's puppet started smacking itself in the face.

"Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!" Kon laughed. "Silly puppet!"

"Gross! Mine's picking his nose!" Kin stuck a finger up his nose and his puppet did the same.

The boys laughed at this, but Laney was unamused.

"All right children." She scolded. "Play time's over! We've got a puppet performance to pull together pronto!"

"Boy, it's a good thing Jackie already left for the studio to set things up with Captain Carney." Kin said. "If she saw me picking my nose, she'd be disgusted with me forever!"

So the four practiced the songs they were going to play on the show and the puppets played the exact same way that they did.

"That was awesome!" Corey cheered once the final song ended.

Tracy and Macy were watching from the backseat of Tracy's car. The dark-haired evil teen was carrying a bag full of containers of the green stuff.

"There's no way I'm letting those freaky things go on TV without getting blown up!" Tracy handed the bag to Macy and kicked her out of her car. "Go put the boom things inside those puppets! Oh, and if you get caught, I'm detonating."

Tracy shut the door to her car and gave Macy a threatening smile while holding a red button. Macy gulped and started slithering her way over to the stage. Slowly and carefully she stuffed the Kon and Laney puppets with the explosives. She crawled over to where the other two were sitting but she was blocked by Tracy's feet.

"Quit slithering around Macy!" Tracy sipped from a carton of chocolate milk.

Macy stood up and looked around.

"Where is everyone?"

"They left to get chocolate milk."

"Ooh, can I have-?"

"There's none left." Tracy tossed the empty carton behind her. "Keep stuffing!"

After these words were said, Tracy got out another carton of chocolate milk and drank it in front of the nerdette.

**NO MORE MILK FOR MACY!**

Later, the band took the puppets to the TV studio and met up with Jackie. The brown-haired manager was holding her clipboard.

"Wow, you guys really made this thing work! You're on in five minutes!"

After Jackie walked away, Corey turned to his friends.

"This is it! We're about to fulfill a lifelong dream to use puppets to inspire kids to love music! Even though that puppet part is pretty recent. So, you guys ready?"

The front man looked up and saw Kon laughing while looking at his phone.

"Man, that is too rich!" he chuckled.

"What is? What are you looking at?" Kin leaned over Kon's shoulder. "Can I see?"

The boy in glasses glanced down at Kon's phone to find out what his brother found so funny. But when he saw what was on the screen, he almost had a heart attack. In Kon's photo album, there was now a picture of Kin picking his nose in his mocap suit.

"Dude! How'd you even get that picture?!" Kin yelled.

Kon just smiled. "Miss Author? Can we have a flashback please?"

An hour earlier when the band was in the garage, Corey, Kin, and Kon were laughing about Kin making his puppet pick his nose. However, Kin was too busy laughing at his own joke to notice Kon had snapped a picture of him with his finger up his nose. After the others went to get their instruments for rehearsal, Kon looked down at his phone and smiled evilly.

"Way to embarrass yourself again Kin. I knew pretending to forget what you did would let your guard down! And now, Phase 1 of my revenge is complete!" The drummer let out a maniacal laugh.

Back in the present…

"What?!" Kin was shocked. "Seriously? Look Kon, a sandwich is one thing, but this? This is inhumane!"

"Inhumanely funny! And speaking of which, it's time for Phase 2 of my revenge plan."

Kon pulled up Jackie's contact and started sending her a message. Kin gasped.

"Gee, I wonder what Jackie will think when she sees this picture of you? Let's find out!"

Kin tried to snatch the phone away but Kon held it up in the air where he couldn't reach it.

"Kon! Gimme that!" Kin jumped up to grab the phone. Kon just laughed and held it up even higher.

"Kon! I'm serious! If Jackie sees that picture, she's gonna think I'm the grossest guy alive!"

"You should have thought about that before you ate my sandwich!" Kon poked his brother in the nose.

Kin panted as he kept trying to retrieve the phone.

"Dude! C'mon! Not cool!"

Corey took the phone out of Kon's hand.

"Sorry guys. No time for shame and humiliation! We've got a show to put on!"

"Okay Carney kids, give a big ol howdy-ho to the brand new Grojgang!" Captain Carney introduced the puppet band but they didn't move.

"Did we forget the lyrics again?" Kon asked.

"That seems to be a running theme." Kin noted.

"Let's bright side this!" Corey stated. "We've had a pretty good run of luck until now! Right guys?"

Jackie, Captain Carney, and Carney Kid were watching the puppets from backstage as they started to move around. It almost looked like they were arguing.

"What are they doing?" Jackie whispered fearfully.

"Jackie, you better have a good explanation for this!" Captain Carney scolded.

Carney Kid removed his shirt revealing his muscles.

"Argh! Just say the word sir! I can have them sinking to the bottom of the sea in six minutes!"

"What?" Jackie gasped. "No! Wait!"

Meanwhile, Tracy and Macy were hiding above the stage. Macy was holding a red button.

"Is that it? Do I push the button? I can't tell what's happening!"

"Who cares?" Tracy took the button and pressed it. "McBlammo!"

When Tracy pushed the button, the heads on the puppets exploded into green goo which flew all over the stage and into the audience.

"Hit the deck!" Captain Carney yelled as he, Carney Kid, and Jackie ran from the explosions.

"What was that?" Laney got off of Kon whom she was pinning down.

Jackie came out of hiding and stepped onto the stage. She was shocked to see the remains of the puppets, crying children, and green goo everywhere. She could also hear evil laughter coming from above the stage. She looked up and saw her sadistic sister and her best friend celebrating their accomplishment.

"That was totally awesome!" Tracy commented.

"Thanks Tracy!" Macy blushed in embarrassment.

"I was talking to me! Now that Goorojband has been blown up, their inspiration is over and soon their shame will begin! The creepy puppets are dead and I win!"

Jackie glared at the two and rushed off to go tell her band, who were currently being told off by Captain Carney.

"I don't know what the Sam hill happened out there, but you got two minutes before we come back from commercial! And them puppets better be singing!"

"I don't get it!" Kin said. "I'm 97% sure these puppets were not designed to explode goo everywhere!"

Jackie entered the scene. "They're not Kin! It was Tracy! She's been afraid of puppets ever since she was 'traumatized' as a little kid. She hates puppets!"

"She's not our biggest fan either." Laney pointed out. "So what do we do?"

"Hey Jackie?" Kon sang. "Wanna see a really funny picture?"

"No!" Kin cried.

"Later Kon. Right now, it's time for a little payback!"

"What do you think I was talking about?" Kon asked.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Tracy and Macy headed for the back door.

"Let's go Mace. We've got a whole afternoon of gloating to do!" Tracy was about to exit, but the door slammed shut in front of her and the lights went out.

"W-W-What's happening?" Macy shook with fear.

A strange laughter echoed around the room.

"Calm down Mace. It's probably just my sister crying because she now understands that her band is lame."

"Revenge…" a voice moaned.

"Either that, or her band's puppets have risen from the trash to exact revenge on us for blowing them up."

"Puppets are not a joke Macy!"

"Tracy…" the Corey puppet revealed itself while holding its severed head. "You did this to me…"

Tracy shoved Macy toward the filthy endoskeleton. "It was her plan! Hers! She made me do it! I didn't want to! I love puppets!"

The Corey puppet started attacking Macy.

"Tracy! Remember me!" Macy sobbed.

Tracy screamed and ran in the opposite direction. The Kin puppet fell down from the ceiling and surprised her.

"Revenge!" Green goo came out of his mouth.

"AAA! Scary puppet!"

Tracy sprinted toward another exit but was blocked by the Kon puppet.

"Scary puppet!" the teenager kept running but accidentally tripped. She had landed at the feet of the Laney puppet. "Please scary dude puppet! No!"

"I'm not a dude!" the puppet shouted. "I mean…revenge!"

"REVENGE!" all four of the puppets surrounded Tracy who was laid out on the ground shaking.

Tracy let out a loud scream and she shot up into the air with a blast of green goo. The remains of the blown up puppets surrounded her. She had a terrified look on her face and her diary and pen floated towards her. When she wrote inside the diary, green flames appeared on the pages. Green goo shot out from the seats in the audience. Tracy soon finished writing and held out her pen which had a green flame on top of it. The flame burned out and Tracy landed on the goo-covered floor. The diary landed in Corey's hand.

"Whoa, cool new diary mode!" Jackie exclaimed.

"We still got one problem Jackie." Laney looked down at the broken puppets. "These puppets are toast."

Corey smiled. "Like I don't have a backup plan?"

A few minutes later, the band's instruments were set up on stage. Kin was still trying to convince Kon not to send that embarrassing picture to Jackie.

"Kon please! You gotta delete that picture! My life is over if Jackie sees it!"

"Aww…that's really sad." Kon pretended to cry. "Too bad my life ended when you ate my sandwich!"

Kin got on his knees. "Kon I beseech and beg you! Please don't send that photo to Jackie! Please! Please! Please! I'll do anything!"

Kon beamed. "Anything?"

"Anything! As long as you get rid of it!"

"Hmm…" Kon thought about it. "All right fine. I won't send that photo of you picking your nose to Jackie. In fact, I'll even let you delete it if you want."

"Really?"

"But…on two conditions. First, you have to make all of my sandwiches from now on. And I want you to dance for me every time I eat one. Second, you have to promise to never eat my grilled cheese again!"

"Okay, okay! I promise! Can I delete that photo now?"

Kon handed his brother the phone and Kin clicked on one of the options in the photo gallery. The picture of him picking his nose disappeared.

"Yes!" Kin cheered. "It's gone! It's finally gone! My relationship with Jackie is saved!"

Kon looked at the screen. "Uh, Kin?"

"Not now Kon! Can't you see I'm overwhelmed with happiness?"

"But Kin-"

"C'mon guys!" Corey pushed the twins onto the stage. "We're on!"

"Let's give a big Carney clap again for…the Grojgang!"

The curtain opened revealing the band on the tiny stage playing a song.

_Corey: This one's for you Bobby Blue_

_I'm running from the puppets_

_Cause they want me dead_

_I hope that I don't lose my beautiful head_

_Their noses are plastic but I fear they can smell_

_Their eyes are like windows_

_Kon: Straight into heeeeeeeck!_

_Corey: Sing it with me!_

The kids in the audience started singing along, including Jackie.

_Corey and Kids: I'm running from the puppets_

_Cause they want me dead_

_I hope that I don't lose my beautiful head_

_Their noses are plastic _

_But I fear they can smell_

_Their eyes are like windows_

_Kon and Kids: Straight into heeeeck!_

_Corey: And this could happen to you_

The kids jumped up and down for they had just found a new favorite band, despite the fact that they weren't animatronics. After a huge standing ovation, the gang headed back to the garage.

"You guys were awesome today!" Jackie held up a poster that was given to her. "So awesome, that Captain Carney told me he wants you to perform on his show every day!"

Laney saw that her face on the poster had a moustache just like her puppet.

"Oh!" she sighed. "Oh forget it. I'll just grow a beard."

"No thanks Jacks. As much as I love the Bubble Bunch…" a spotlight shined on Corey. "I don't think it's for us. Puppets might inspire, but they can also terrify. When you pull a person's strings, you might pull so hard they come apart and instead of inspiration, they might be filled with something that waits to explode!"

The spotlight disappeared and Jackie gave Corey a confused look.

Kin came into the garage carrying a sandwich. He handed it to Kon who was sitting on the couch.

"Here." Kin said annoyed.

"Ahem!"

Kin sighed and started dancing for Kon's amusement. Kon took a bite of his sandwich and laid back watching.

"By the way Kin…" Jackie came up to the two holding her phone. "Great picture of you. I had no idea that you picked your nose."

The brunette showed the picture to Kin and he gasped. He grabbed Kon's phone and went through the messages.

"But-but-but-"

"I tried to tell you dude." Kon told his twin. "You accidentally sent the photo as a text message instead of deleting it."

Kin stood speechless. Jackie cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Well, then. I'll see you guys tomorrow." She looked at Kin oddly before stepping out of the garage.

Once Jackie left, Kin started to walk away.

"I'm gonna go hide under the couch for the next three weeks…" he muttered.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Okay, I know a lot of you want me to do some original suggestions but I'm asking you to please wait for one more chapter so I can have twenty episode segments done. After that, I will start taking original suggestions. Unfortunately, I don't have any more requests right now so if you have an episode that you want to see, let me know. One more thing, there are still some episodes that need to be saved for a later time mostly because of relationships. Here is a list of them:**

**Kon-fusion**

**The Pirate's Lounge for Me (needs to come after On the Air and Out to Sea)**

**It's In the Card**

**Curse of the Metrognome**

**Hear Us Rock!**

**Other than those five, any episode will work. See you all again soon!**


	24. Quarrel of the Story

**Wow, another really long chapter! Took me quite a while to get this finished. Sorry to keep you all waiting. This chapter is based on "War and Peaceville" which was requested via private message by DragonQueen103. **

* * *

**Chapter 24**

**Quarrel of the Story**

It was a very special day in Tranquil Town. A day that like most special days, only came once a year. But in this case, it only came around once and never happened again which showed just how special it really was. Everyone in town had been waiting for this day to come and when it did, they all celebrated. The mayor even invited the residents to come together in the town square just for the occasion. For the day had finally come. Tranquil Town's 100th birthday.

Jackie was in her garage sitting on the couch between Corey and Laney. She was showing her lead singer and bassist an old photo album of her ancestors and was telling them all about the founding of the town.

"And that's my great grandmother Julie Matthews." Jackie pointed to a photo of a girl who resembled her. "She wrote the original Tranquil Town anthem, '100 Years Ago Today'!"

"Wow Jacks! She looks just like you!" Laney observed.

"Yeah! Your family history is killer!" Corey nodded.

"I know." Jackie closed the book. "I just can't believe that Mayor Swellow asked me to sing the anthem today!"

"Well, like you said, your great grandmother wrote it." Laney pointed out.

"You'll do great Jacks!" Corey stood up. "Especially since we'll be there to provide musical accompaniment!"

Jackie giggled. "Thanks guys. I wouldn't ask for anything more than my favorite band playing right beside me. Speaking of which, we should probably rehearse the song one more time before we head to the town square. Where are Kin and Kon?"

A split second later, the door inside the garage opened and Kin and Kon stepped through the doorway at the same time. This caused them to become stuck and neither one of them could move. The two glared at each other as they tried to wriggle their way out. After a bit of struggling, they both became unstuck and fell face first onto the floor. The two stood up, walked over to the couch, and sat down with their arms crossed and their faces turned away from each other.

"There you guys are!" Jackie said. "C'mon, get on the stage. Your instruments are already set up."

Kin and Kon glanced at the stage in the garage and saw their instruments parked side by side.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Jackie questioned. "We gotta practice!"

"Oh, we will Jackie." Kon glared at Kin. "But first tell Kin that he has to move his keyboard to another spot. I refuse to play next to him!"

"Huh?" Jackie was astonished.

"Jackie, tell Kon that my keyboard is staying where it is and that he should move his drums somewhere else! There's no way I'm playing next to him!" Kin shouted.

"What? Why do you guys even want your instruments placed separately?" Jackie asked. "What difference does it make anyway?"

"Tell Kon that that loud, banging racket he calls drumming will make me lose my concentration."

"And tell Kin that his pathetic chords will mess up my rhythm!"

Jackie looked back over at Corey and Laney.

"What's going on with Kin and Kon?"

"They had a really bad fight this morning." Laney told her manager. "With yelling and insults and everything."

"And it's still going on!" Corey added.

"But they're best friends!" Jackie exclaimed. "Why would they get into a fight all of a sudden?"

"Well, the thing is…" Corey paused slightly. "It had a lot to do with you…"

"Me?"

"Yeah, Kin got angry after Kon said that he would never, not even in a billion years, get you to lo-"

Laney covered Corey's mouth.

"Let's not say it for Kin."

"Say what for Kin?" Jackie asked.

"Oh nothing!" Corey removed Laney's hand from his mouth. "Anyway, like I said, Kin got mad and said something mean to Kon and that's when things got rough. First came the arguing, then came the insults, and then they started hurting each other physically. There was punching and kicking, and even biting. Lanes and I eventually broke them up but since then, they haven't said a word to each other."

Jackie looked back over at Kin and Kon who were tugging on a couch cushion.

"Well, this won't do." Jackie decided. "It's Tranquil Town's 100th birthday and I don't want any fighting! We already had to deal with the feud between the Matthews and the Salarys."

She stormed up to the keyboardist and drummer and snatched the cushion out of their hands.

"All right you two. Enough is enough! We have to rehearse and your quarreling is getting in the way of that. So instead of hurting each other, why don't you try talking it out?"

"That'll be kind of hard Jacks." Kon stated. "Especially since I'm not talking to Kin!"

"And I'm not going to associate myself with a big, fat jerk like Kon!" Kin agreed.

Kon stood up looking offended. "What did you just call me?"

Kin smiled. "That's right. I called you a big, fat jerk! Cause that's what you are!"

"It's a glandular problem!"

"Ha! You don't even know what that means!"

"Oh, and I suppose you do, Mr. Know-It-All!"

"Oh please! You're just jealous of my superior intellect! Because I actually have a brain in my head while your head is just a wide open space!" Kin stuck his hand into Kon's ear and pulled out a tiny sign that read "Reserved for Brain".

"Oh yeah? Well at least I don't need glasses to see where I'm going all the time! In fact, I'm pretty sure that without those things, you're as dumb as a brick!"

With that, the taller brother snatched Kin's glasses off of his face.

"Hey! Give em back!" Kin cried. "I can't see without my glasses!"

"You want em?" Kon taunted. "You gotta find me first!"

Kin swung his fist in the wrong direction while Kon moved behind the couch.

"Yoohoo! I'm over here!"

Kin tried to punch Kon but because he couldn't see, he missed. Kon laughed and moved to another side.

"Nope! Over here!"

Kin swung and missed again. Kon got behind him.

"Missed me! Missed me! Now you gotta kiss me!"

Kin turned to where he heard Kon's voice and was sure that he would get him this time. But his bad eyesight made him hit the air instead and he fell off the couch. Kon laughed hysterically.

"All right, that's it!" Jackie snatched Kin's glasses out of Kon's hand and helped Kin up. She gave the boy his glasses back which caused him to blush and giggle.

"Oh! Thank you Jackie. I knew you would take my side."

"I'm not taking anyone's side!" Jackie scolded. "In fact, you both should be ashamed of yourselves! All this yelling and violence isn't going to solve anything! Honestly, siblings are supposed to love each other!"

Just then, Tracy and Macy came in and the former took the photo album that was still in Jackie's hands.

"Get lost squirt! We only need one Matthews today. Me!" she opened the album to a picture where Julie Matthews and Rick Salary's ancestor, Brick Salary, were hugging. "Rick Salary and I are reenacting the town founding hug and your band's noise is not going to ruin that!"

"Noise?!" Jackie was mad. "You take that back!"

"Why don't you make me you little twerp?"

"Yeah, I can totally see the love there." Kon said sarcastically.

Jackie took back the photo album. "Anyway, a hug may have started Tranquil Town, but the next hundred years will be built on a foundation of rock!"

Corey and Laney followed Jackie out of the garage. Kin and Kon did the same but refused to look at one another.

Tracy scowled. "Jackie's not gonna ruin my Rick hugging! Today is about my family history!"

"Don't you and Jackie have the same family history?" Macy asked.

"Macy! Ew!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

A stage was set up in the middle of Tranquil Town Square. A group of citizens gathered around the stage as Mayor Swellow greeted everyone.

"Happy 100th birthday Tranquil Town! You don't look a day over 99! We're gonna open your presents, sing you a song, and then bring back the embrace that started the place!" the mayor referred to a giant statue of Julie Matthews and Brick Salary hugging.

Cameras were set up to film the celebration and the town's newscasters were ready to report.

"I'm Buster Newsworthy!"

"And I'm Destiny Providence! What's all this about a hug you ask?"

Tracy and Rick stepped into the camera's view.

"Tracy Matthews and Rick Salary are descendants of the Julie Matthews and Brick Salary who created Tranquil Town with a hug!" Buster explained.

"Any pre-hug thoughts hunky Rick Salary?" Destiny held out her mic for Rick.

"Rick Salary's hugs are legendary. But today, they're historic."

Buster put his mic under Tracy. "Anything you wanna say about hugging hunky Rick Salary?"

Tracy just blushed and giggled creepily.

Mayor Swellow was holding a time capsule that was buried when the town formed.

"Okay Tranquilians! Time to pop the top and let the anthem beat drop!"

Kon started playing his drums and the mayor danced around the time capsule.

"Maybe there's gold inside too!" the mayor slowly opened up the time capsule and a fart cloud came out of it. Swellow coughed before pulling out a scroll.

"Nope. Just the anthem."

The citizens glanced at the sheet of paper, a bit disappointed. Cricket sounds could be heard from the audience. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew the anthem out of Mayor Swellow's hand and it hit Tracy in the face. The angry teenager pulled the paper off of her face and scowled.

"Yuck! Reading!" she handed the scroll to Macy who read it quickly.

"Whoa Tracy!" she cried. "This anthem totally harshes on the Matthews and the Salarys! They nearly destroyed Tranquil Town with a feud and had to hug to make it stop!"

Tracy ripped off the bottom part of the anthem, crumpled it up, and tossed it behind her.

"Why'd you tear off the bottom?" Macy asked.

"Cause that's the part where they hug and apologize to each other!"

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Ugh! Macy! Don't you get it? We need to make Jackie start a feud and after people hurt each other, my hug with Rick will fix everything! Love wins!"

"Cool idea Tracy, but won't the town be like, totally really destroyed?"

"It'll be worth it. Trust me."

"And now to sing the anthem her great grandmother wrote, Jackie Matthews!" the mayor stepped off the stage and Jackie took the mic.

"Um, where are the lyrics?"

"Right here Jackie." Tracy handed her sister the anthem and gave an evil chuckle.

"Why did Tracy just encourage you?" Laney wondered.

"Don't worry about it Lanes!" Corey reassured the bassist. "We'll figure it out later."

"Happy birthday Tranquil Town!" Jackie looked down at the lyrics and started to sing.

_Tranquil Town, Tranquil Town_

_The town that tops em all_

_Your future is a shiny one_

_Your past was just a brawl_

_Brick Salary's whole family's the lamest one in town_

_But the lyrics for this anthem are the ones that Brick wrote down_

_Us Matthews were exposed as frauds_

_And a battle soon ensued_

_And we all accused, abused, and bruised_

_Each other in a feud?_

Jackie was confused when she reached the bottom of the scroll. She was sure that there were more words but for some reason, they weren't there.

"The Salarys were lame?" exclaimed Billy. "I'm shocked!"

"The Matthews were lyric thieves?!" yelled the town's party critic, Party Stanimal.

"I'm shocked." Laney rolled her eyes and Jackie gave her a glare.

"Starch brain!"

"Nerd face!"

"Grease ball!"

"Science monkey!"

The crowd looked over at Kin and Kon who were throwing insults back and forth.

"Hey, those two are fighting!" Billy observed. "We should do the same!"

"Yeah!" Party Stanimal raised his fist. "Let the war begin!"

The citizens split into two groups: the Matthews and the Salarys and they started shouting at each other.

"Curse those Matthews!"

"Curse those Salarys!"

"Uh-oh…" Jackie muttered. "That can't be good…"

"Hey you two!" Billy called to Kin and Kon. "If you're gonna keep fightin' you gotta fight with us!"

Kon smiled. "You know what? I will! In fact, I'm joining the Matthews side so Kin has to go against his true love, Jackie!"

The drummer made kissing noises and Kin gasped.

"You monster! How could you-" Kin found himself being dragged away by the Salarys. Kon waved goodbye and gave a wicked grin.

Jackie, Corey, and Laney witnessed Kin and Kon joining the feud.

"And things just got worse." Jackie was starting to panic.

Corey just shrugged.

"Don't worry! Rick and Tracy will hug and everything will be fixed! Folks like a nice historic hug! It worked for our hometown!"

"Congrats Tracy!" Macy cheered. "The feud is so on!"

"And now to make future history by hugging Rick and bringing the town together with a love display!"

That's when the dark-haired girl heard a loud crunching sound behind her. When she turned around, she was shocked to see Rick wearing a fedora, suspenders, a bow tie, and a pair of glasses while eating a raw onion. Tracy's mouth stood wide open.

"If Rick's family history is one of huge lameness, then Rick's cool with being lame." Rick took another bite of his onion while Tracy remained speechless.

"Your reality just broke didn't it?" Macy guessed.

Tracy nodded.

"You're not gonna hug lame Rick Salary, are you?"

Tracy shook her head.

Once again, Jackie, Corey, and Laney witnessed the events from the stage.

"Okay, so that's a problem." Corey decided. "But only a few people were here to hear that anthem. No big deal."

"I guess it wouldn't be Corey…" Jackie began. "If the media wasn't here filming the whole thing!"

"This just in!" Destiny reported. "Old Tranquil Town anthem tells a story of a brawlin' and a thievin'! And we carried it live!"

Buster shoved Destiny out of the shot.

"Will history repeat itself? Tearing the town apart as the old Salary/Matthews feud reignites!"

Destiny stood up. "Well, those black-haired twins must have had a conflict of their own. They're obviously too smart to be mad about lyric theft!"

"Spoken like a true Matthews-lover!"

"Fist just in!" Destiny punched Buster in the face.

"Buster down…" Buster muttered in pain.

Laney and Jackie glanced over at Corey.

"Fine, it's a big deal." Corey gave in. "But it isn't a huge deal!"

"Oh is it Corey?" Jackie turned Corey's head toward the crowd. "Is it?"

The citizens had just finished building a giant brick wall to separate the Matthews and the Salarys.

"Have fun being stuck on the other side Kin!" Kon smiled evilly. "Even though it'll be pretty hard considering you'll be far away from your precious Jackie!"

"You're not going to take that from him are you?" a Salary asked Kin.

"Of course he isn't!" another claimed. "He hates all of those Matthews!"

The Salarys pushed Kin toward his brother.

"Go ahead Kin!" one of them encouraged. "Tell him what you think of those putrid Matthews!"

"Uh…" Kin was nervous.

"Yes Kin. Go ahead. Insult away!" Kon insisted. "I won't stop you. But just to let you know, when you insult the Matthews, you're insulting ALL of the Matthews!"

"All of them?" Kin looked to where Jackie was standing.

"Well?"

"Um…" Kin started to sweat. "The Matthews are…um…they're…"

Kon folded his arms and gave a winning smile.

"Uh…they're…indifferent?" Kin smiled nervously while Kon and the Salarys stared at him.

"…What he said!" a Salary shouted.

Kon scoffed and walked away. "Fine. Whatever. This isn't over…"

Kin sighed with relief as the two sides continue to argue. Mayor Swellow stood in the middle.

"East and West Tranquil Town, please! We can't just divide our town! Unless you've both got mayors! And I am that multi-taskin' man!"

Swellow reached into his pocket and pulled out a second banner to go with the one that was already around his waist.

"I'll make sure both Tranquil Towns are the best Tranquil Town!"

"Okay so it's a huge deal." Corey concluded. "But not too huge to fix with a new anthem about unity."

"That's a great idea Corey!" Jackie complimented the beanie-wearing kid. "Now we just need lyrics."

"And since you're a Matthews, you can steal them?" Laney guessed.

"You know it! All we have to do is get Tracy to hug Rick! She'll be so filled with joy, she'll have to write in her diary! But this time, we'll have lyrics full of love!"

"But Tracy doesn't seem like she wants to hug Rick." Laney looked over at Tracy who was still shocked into unconsciousness. "She doesn't seem like she wants to do anything."

Macy was filing Tracy's nails when the three non-feuding band members met up with the best friends.

"What's up with Tracy?" Jackie asked.

"She just kinda shut down when Rick Salary became lame." Macy explained.

"Do we have time for me to panic and run around shouting 'it's all over'?" Corey whispered to Laney.

"No!"

"Fine. Jacks, you got another plan?"

"Sure do Corey!" Jackie nodded. "Let's go find Rick!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Corey and Laney watched as Jackie had a chat with the formerly cool teen.

"Hey Rick. Listen, could you do me a favor and maybe stop eating raw onions, quit being lame, and be huggably cool again?"

Rick shook his head. "Sorry Matthews. Rick digs tradition. Feud on."

Jackie looked back over at Corey and Laney.

"Okay, plan C. The Salarys have forced Kin to take their side. Maybe we can convince him to convince everyone else to calm down."

The trio moved toward the brick wall that divided the town.

"Quick! Gimme a boost!"

Corey and Laney lifted up their manager and she successfully made it over the wall. When she made it, however, she was immediately greeted by the Salarys.

"Look! It's one of those Matthews!"

"How'd she get over the wall?"

"Who cares? Let's tear her to pieces!"

The Salarys charged for the brunette, planning on destroying her, but Kin stepped in to protect her.

"No! Stop! I won't let you hurt her!" he paused. "Um…what I mean is, I'll handle this one."

Jackie stood up. "Kin! Thank goodness! I need you to do something for me."

"Whatever she has to say, don't let it bother you Kin!" a Salary spoke up.

"Yeah, tell that filthy Matthews girl what we Salarys think about her and her pathetic family!"

Jackie ignored what the crowd was saying and looked down at Kin.

"Kin, you agree with me that this whole feud is ridiculous, right?"

"Uh…"

"Well? What are you waiting for?" the first Salary said. "Insult her already!"

"Make her cry!"

"Point out her flaws!"

"HURT HER! HURT HER! HURT HER! HURT HER!"

Kin started sweating nervously and his teeth clenched. He gulped and shakily pointed his finger at Jackie.

"M-M-Matthews…y-y-y-you're…"

"That's right! Say it!" the second Salary encouraged.

"I-I-I think that y-y-y-you're…not…I mean, you're just, no, you're n-n-nothing but a…"

Jackie grew concerned for the keyboardist as his eyes started twitching and his breathing became shallow.

"I…I think…that you…"

Kin's face started to turn red from lack of oxygen. His heart was beating rapidly and soon his eyes were watering and his face was a deep purple color. The Salarys gasped at the horrible sight. Kin's love for Jackie was clearly too strong to insult her, so when he tried, his heart fought back. Finally, Kin's heart exploded and he let out a wheeze. His skin turned pale white and he fainted.

The others were overcome with silence as they glanced down at the unconscious boy in glasses. The Salarys looked back over at Jackie and she laughed nervously. Luckily, a microphone with a long cord came down from the wall so Jackie figured Corey and Laney were trying to rescue her.

"Okay…well, I should really be getting back to my side of the town. So, see you later!" the 14-year old grabbed a hold of the mic and climbed over the wall where Corey and Laney were waiting for her.

"Well, I'm all out of ideas!" she declared. "Kin's out of commission and there's no way Tracy's gonna hug Rick if he's lame!"

"Yeah, she probably thinks it's-" Laney imitated Tracy. "Super forbidden or whatever! Ugh!"

"Nice Tracy impression Laney!" Jackie noted. "In fact, you've just given me an idea! C'mon guys!"

Corey and Laney followed Jackie back over to where Tracy was. Macy had finished painting Tracy's nails.

"I hope you like the color." Macy said smiling. "And also, talk again. I'm scared."

"Tracy, you gotta hug Rick!" Jackie pleaded.

"Rick's lame." Tracy said blankly. "Up has become down. Left has become Wednesday."

"Tracy, you're the coolest." Jackie whispered to Corey and Laney. "Ugh, that almost made me puke!" she went back to Tracy. "And Rick is lame! Your love is uncool!"

"So against cool rules…" Tracy agreed.

"Yeah, but cool on lame love is forbidden love! Which makes it hashtag…"

"Uber romantic…" Tracy smiled as she started to imagine herself hugging lame Rick Salary and stopping the feud. "I want romantic forbidden hugs!"

Tracy rushed off to find Rick who was currently sitting on the wall eating onions.

"Rick loves lame." He said.

"And I love lame Rick!" Tracy climbed the wall and squeezed Rick into a hug.

"A Salary hugging a Matthews?" Rick tried to push Tracy off of him but she wouldn't let go. "What would old Brick Salary say?"

"He'd say…it's FORBIDDEN!"

Tracy shot into the air with a blast of fire. She was smiling and had hearts in her eyes. Even more hearts surrounded the teenaged girl as she grabbed her diary and pen. When she wrote, hearts flew off of the pages. The hearts floated down to the two feuding groups and made them happy again. Tracy held out her pen which had hearts floating out of the tip. After the hearts popped, Tracy clamped her hands together and gently landed in Rick's arms. Jackie, Corey, and Laney were standing on the wall when Corey caught the diary.

"People of East and West Tranquil Town!" Laney announced as Corey started using her head to write down lyrics. "It's time to stop the fighting!"

"Hugs are nice and all, but not nice enough to tear down this wall!"

Mayor Swellow pointed out as he cleaned off his new banner.

Kin, meanwhile, was no longer unconscious and was being told off by his so-called 'family'.

"What happened back there Kujira?" one of them questioned. "You had that Matthews in the palm of your hand!"

"We asked you to do one little thing! And you backed down on us!"

"All you had to do was make fun of a Matthews! It's as simple as that!"

Kin shook his head. "You didn't ask me to insult a Matthews! You asked me to insult Jackie Matthews! And that's something I can't do! Look, I only joined the Salarys because I was having a fight with my brother. But just because I'm angry at him, doesn't mean I have to be angry at everyone else. You just don't understand. I can't insult Jackie. I love her."

"WHAT?!"

"And…done!" Corey tossed the diary and Jackie began to make a speech.

"100 years ago, the Matthews stole our anthem from the Salarys! Now, the Matthews wrote a new anthem and we wanna give it back! Rick, will you sing this new anthem and bring the town together again?"

Rick dropped a love-struck Tracy into the bushes. "Sure thing Matthews. Rick loves righting the wrongs of history."

The lame teenager grabbed a microphone and started to sing the new and improved town anthem.

_Tranquil Town, Tranquil Town_

_We have you in our heart_

_Brothers, sisters all of us_

_Have loved you from the start_

_The Salary and Matthews clans have dropped their fists of rage_

_And we're moving all together now into a brand new age_

The song made the Matthews and Salarys stop fighting. Soon, both sides were tearing down the wall that separated each other and everyone shook hands and hugged.

_No barriers will ever divide us_

_All together we stand_

_Tranquil Town we'd like to tell you_

_We all think you're grand_

_Oh, Tranquil Town, Tranquil Town_

_Our hearts beat in our chest_

_There is no better place to live_

_For you are the best!_

Everybody cheered as the song ended.

"Rick thinks the past is in the past…and the present is…cool." Rick snapped his fingers and regained his cool stature.

Destiny Providence and Buster Newsworthy had their arms around each other as they continued their news broadcast.

"Destiny Providence here, saying: Happy 100th Birthday Tranquil Town!"

Buster grinned. "What she said."

"All right!" Corey cheered. "Everything's back to normal!"

"Not quite Corey." Jackie climbed down the wall and walked to where Kin and Kon were. They were both feeling guilty and anxious.

"Well, everybody in town has hugged and made up." Jackie put her hands on the brothers' shoulders. "Think it's time you two did the same."

Tears filled the twins' eyes and Kin finally said something.

"I didn't mean anything I said before." He sniffled. "You're not a big, fat jerk and your head isn't completely empty."

Kon sobbed. "I still don't think Jackie will love you. But you're not as big of a dork as I said you were."

"I'M SORRY!" they blurted out before embracing each other and crying hard.

"Let's never build a literal wall between us again!" Kin wailed. Kon nodded and wiped some more tears from his eyes.

Jackie couldn't help but smile at how cute they were.

"There. See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

Kin let go of Kon. "No. I guess not."

"By the way Kon, what was that part about me again?"

"Oh, it's nothing…" Kon smiled at Kin and he smiled back.

Corey and Laney were watching all three of them.

"Looks like we did it Core!"

"Did we Lanes? I'm not so sure." A spotlight appeared over Corey. "I think love did it. And theft. And eating raw onions until you smell weird. You can steal peace from someone and keep it in your pocket and pass it off as your own. A hundred years later, the truth will come out and you'll have to steal all over again to make it right. We can't take the blame for history. But we can take the credit for a re-gifted present."

The spotlight disappeared.

"No…" Laney corrected the leader. "I meant we fixed everything."

"Oh yeah! That was all us!"

Laney facepalmed.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Yay! I got 20 episode segments done! As promised, I will now start taking original suggestions and convert them into story form. These can be situations that haven't been used in a Grojband episode, or they can be one-shots for couples. Keep in mind though, that I won't accept any suggestions that may lead to confessions or kissing because this fic has to follow a certain story line. Also, only couples that are somewhat canon will be accepted (ex: Corney or Jackin) so there won't be any Jacore (Jackie X Corey) or Kontracy or any other pairs that have no evidence of being a pair. Lastly, I will still be doing regular episode suggestions if anybody has a request (right now I have two more planned after an original chapter). Well, that's it so I'll see you all when I get the next chapter done!**


	25. Caught in a Web

**Well here it is! The first original scenario in the story (if you don't count the first four chapters)! Sorry if it took a long time. I had some really bad writer's block. This scenario was suggested by guest reviewers, Deanna and Me. The latter said this:**

**"****at the fourth chapter you said that we could make up our own situations to put Grojband and Jackie into. So here is mine: I would like for Jackie and Grojband to go into cyberspace and maybe some king of new character asks them to do a gig in cyberspace so they need a way to get Tracy there and make her go diary. Please make this and I hope you like my idea."**

**So here is the scenario put into a story format! Hope you all like it! BTW, stick around to read the author's notes at the bottom. I have an announcement to make.**

* * *

**Chapter 25**

**Caught in a Web**

One afternoon, Jackie, Laney, Kin, and Kon were sitting around the garage watching videos online. On the screen there was a girl holding a dog on a leash.

"Go!" the girl said.

The dog started running causing the girl to fall and hit the pavement.

"Bwaah!"

"Wow, that looked like it hurt." Laney noted. "People actually like this video?"

Jackie nodded. "It just shows what a messed up society we're living in."

Kin pointed to another video. "How about this one?"

Jackie clicked the link and this time there was a video of a cat playing the keyboard.

"There's no way that that's real." Laney decided. "A cat couldn't be that good at playing keyboards."

"Yeah, especially not if he's better than me." Kin added.

"Of course not Kin." Jackie poked Kin in the nose. "Nobody's better than you."

Hearts popped out of Kin and he smiled big.

"Ooh! Click on that one Jacks!" Kon pointed at the screen. "That one's called 'The Best Video Ever'!"

"Well…"

"C'mon! Click it! Click it!"

"Okay! Okay!" Jackie moved the mouse over to the video and clicked on it.

When the video loaded, it showed a guy with red hair dancing to a familiar tune. Jackie, Laney, and Kin all groaned for they knew what that meant. Kon, however, was overjoyed.

"Yes! I love this song!" he started dancing as the guy in the video sang.

_We're no strangers to love_

_You know the rules and so do I_

The music stopped once Jackie closed the browsing window.

"Aww…" Kon whined. "I was listening to that! Besides it said it was the best video ever!"

"Kon, they only say that so you'll watch it. It's called trolling." Jackie explained. "It's when someone says that a video is good leading someone else to click on it. But when they watch it, it turns out to be that old music video and then they feel gullible and stupid."

"Oh."

"Man, everything on the internet nowadays is either old and played-out or stuff that's copied and redone." Jackie sighed. "Face it guys, there's nothing good online anymore."

Corey entered the garage after hearing the whole thing.

"Not for long Jacks!" he said. "Because Grojband is going to rule the entire interwebs!"

Laney stood up. "Um, how exactly do we do that Core?"

Corey put an arm around the red-head and she blushed.

"Easy Lanes! First, we upload a video of us rocking out a tune online. Then we get a ton of people to watch it and like it. Once our video becomes popular, so will we!"

"So we have to make another music video?" Jackie was uneasy. "I don't know Core. Remember what happened back in Chapters 12 and 13?"

"Yeah, but it's not like we're going inside Tracy's dreams again. And this time, there won't be any crazy special effects to give anyone nightmares! As long as the song we play is awesome enough to get millions of people to like it, Grojband will be huge!"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Kon raised his hand. "Then can we do that song sung by that red-haired guy that makes people feel gullible and stupid?"

"NO!" everyone else shouted.

Soon, the band had taken their positions on stage and Jackie filmed them playing one of their songs. Of course, they didn't have any lyrics at the time but Corey said they would fix that after they became famous. Jackie took the footage and after a bit of editing, she posted it to the website. Corey looked over the video and got excited.

"It's perfect! Now we just have to wait for the views to roll in!" Corey leaned back in his chair.

"Look Core, our music video is cool and all…" Laney began. "But, how can we be sure that millions of people will watch it?"

Corey just scoffed. "Chill dude! I've already sent the video to everyone we know and asked them to share it with everyone they know! They'll all be going wild for Grojband's music! And let's face it, who wouldn't?"

Meanwhile, Tracy was in her room using her laptop. Like Grojband, she was also trying to become popular by uploading videos online. Except in her case, it was mainly to become popular with Rick. She was currently posting her first video which was of herself bragging about how pretty she was and how others should be jealous of her beauty. Macy was standing right beside her.

"There!" Tracy clicked the submit button. "My first video has been uploaded for the whole world to see! Now let's see how high my subscriber count is!"

Tracy went to her account page and was angered when she found out she only had one subscriber.

"What?! My channel has been up for a whole minute!" she complained. "Nobody has subscribed to me?!"

"Um, I have Tracy." Macy smiled.

Tracy ignored her. "Hm, maybe if I take down my video and upload it again, I'll get better results…"

The selfish teen was about to re-upload her video when she got an email with a link attached to it.

"Huh? What's this?"

Tracy clicked on the link and to her surprise and disgust, it sent her to Grojband's new music video.

"Ewww!" she covered her ears and looked away. "It's horrible! Awful! Make it stop!"

Macy took a look at Tracy's computer screen.

"Grojband posts stuff online too? Huh, I wonder why they would send you one of their videos?"

"A big fat who cares? I'm not about to let Grossband become more popular than me! I'm disliking their dumb video!"

Tracy clicked on the thumbs-down icon below the video, giving it a dislike. She tried to dislike it again but the website wouldn't let her.

"Ugh!" she groaned. "Why are you not allowed to dislike something more than once? They should let you dislike a video as many times as you want to show how much you hate it!"

Macy thought about it.

"Hm, well you could create another account and use that one to dislike the video a second time."

Tracy stood up and smiled evilly.

"Yeah, that just might work. But I want Mirojband to have way more than two dislikes! No, in order to bring them down, I need to dislike them a million times! After that, I'll be satisfied."

"Great plan Tracy! But, making a million accounts is going to take a long time…"

"A long time for you, you mean." Tracy pushed Macy into her computer chair. "GET TO WORK!"

Macy obeyed and immediately started making more accounts for her demanding best friend.

**A MILLION IS A BIG NUMBER!**

A few hours later, Macy had finally finished creating a million accounts for Tracy. With each one she finished, Tracy reminded her to dislike Grojband's video and to add a mean comment as well. Just like the dark-haired girl had planned, the video soon had one million dislikes.

"There!" Tracy said. "Now Fromojband's online career is ruined! And I have a million different accounts to upload my videos to!"

Macy grasped her hand, which was cramping from using it too much.

"Yep! You sure do Tracy! Heh, heh…"

"And now to make sure everybody knows who I am by uploading my first video to all of my channels! MACY!"

Macy nodded and started using her other hand to do Tracy's bidding.

Back in the garage, Grojband had just finished rehearsing their music for their next gig (once they got one). Jackie stood up from her chair and clapped as their last song ended.

"Great rehearsal guys! Your new song sounded amazing!"

"Despite the fact that we still don't have lyrics…" Laney hinted while glancing at Corey.

"Aw, lyrics will come along eventually." Corey shrugged and went over to Jackie's laptop. "In the meantime, let's see how our video's doing."

He refreshed the page with the band's music video.

"I bet by now, we're sure to have a million…" he gasped when he saw what was on the screen. "Dislikes?! But how? We sounded perfect!"

"Could it have something to do with our lack of words in our song?" Laney guessed sarcastically.

Corey clicked on the link to the videos' comments and started reading them.

"AAA! The comments are even worse!" he handed the computer to Jackie. "Read what it says!"

"'This band and their lame music is enough to make my ears bleed.' Ouch."

"Keep reading!" Corey encouraged and Jackie read several other comments.

"'I am guessing the kid with blue hair is the lead singer. Judging by how bad his guitar playing is, his singing voice must be even worse.'"

Corey clutched his heart. "Ow! It hurts! It really, really hurts!"

Jackie kept reading.

"'The dude with the bass is extremely ugly. Now I know why he is wearing makeup. Not that it makes him look any better. LOL.'"

"What?!" Laney was outraged. "That's not funny! And I'm not a dude!"

"'Can somebody tell me how many chins are on that stupid drummer? Because I lost count after twenty. Also, I am assuming that the dork playing keyboards is his twin brother. Mainly because they both stink equally XD.'"

Kin and Kon had tears in their eyes and they hugged each other.

"'Grojband? More like Grojbland. Their music makes me want to throw up. I wish that-"

"Stop! Enough! Please! Why are you still reading those things?!" Corey pleaded.

Jackie put down the laptop. "So you guys have a few haters. Big deal."

"A few?! Jacks, there were one million dislikes! That's like, ten times the population of Tranquil Town!" Corey panicked. "What if we're the most hated band in the world?"

That's when Jackie's laptop flashed and she and the others were teleported out of the garage and into a strange new place. A place with pixelated walls, floating video screens, and absolutely no ground to stand on. But somehow, the five teens were floating in mid-air.

"Where are we?" Kon wondered aloud.

"I have no idea." Jackie confessed. "But it definitely doesn't look like home."

"Oh, but it is your home now!" a voice boomed from a distance.

"Who said that?"

There was another flash and this time a floating throne showed up with a pixelated figure sitting on it.

Grojband hid behind Jackie as she spoke to the person.

"W-Who are you?"

"I am King Chip." He said. "That's short for Microchip. You must be that band I've heard so much about."

Jackie looked around. "What is this place?"

"This is the kingdom of Linkrot." King Chip explained. "This is the place where the worst videos of all time are locked up so they don't disgust users of the Internet any longer. Usually it's because they're stupid or because they're boring…but sometimes it's because of…their high dislike rate!"

Corey came out from behind Jackie. "Yeah, that's really cool. Hey listen, it's been nice meeting you and all but we really need to get back to our world now, so can you show us the way?"

"Back to your world?!" King Chip laughed. "You're not going anywhere! If you five were summoned here, then that means you created a video so terrible that it made people's eyes melt! And besides, I already know that in the past few hours you all received one million dislikes on your recent upload! That means you all have to stay here and be imprisoned for eternity!"

Grojband gasped.

"Wait a minute!" Jackie interrupted. "You mean you're going to keep my band in this creepy place forever just because their video wasn't that popular?"

"That's right. What's your point?"

"Well, let me ask you this. Did you even watch their video all the way through?"

"Um…" the king stood still in thought. "Well…no…it's not really my job to watch videos, just to imprison them."

"Then how do you know that it was that bad?"

"Well, because…because…" King Chip beamed. "Because it has one million dislikes! Obviously it has to be bad!"

Corey got an idea. "Okay then. How about this? We'll put on a wicked show for you right here, right now! If you like it, you have to set us free. If you don't, then you can keep us."

Laney, Kin, and Kon gasped at Corey's offer. King Chip scratched his chin.

"It seems like a reasonable offer. Very well then. You have a deal."

"Yes!" Corey cheered.

The digital king snapped his fingers giving the band their instruments and a stage to play on.

"All right go ahead. This song had better be good. And it had better have good lyrics."

Corey rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously.

"Oh yeah, heh…about that…see, we don't actually have lyrics to this song."

The king was furious.

"What?! No lyrics?! No wonder so many people hated you! That settles it! I hope all of you packed clean clothes because you're going to be here for a long time!"

"Wait!" Corey cried. "We can get lyrics! We just need a little time!"

"And how may I ask, are we going to get lyrics from Tracy when we're stuck in this crazy place?" Laney asked.

The two of them heard Kon singing from behind them. They turned around and saw him dancing to the same music video they watched earlier that day.

"Kon! Would you stop singing that stupid song?" Corey stopped for a moment. "That's it! I know how we can get our lyrics! We need to make a brand new music video! Just like our first one, except this time, we have to make sure people hate it! Preferably, one person…hey King Chip! Mind if we borrow some camera equipment?"

King Chip shrugged. "I don't see how this is going to help you escape your fate, but I can't resist filming a good video."

He snapped his fingers and gained a camera.

"Oh you'll be filming a video all right." Corey said. "Just not a good one."

**DIGITIZED TRANSITION!**

Macy was completely exhausted after uploading Tracy's video to all of her channels.

"There you go Tracy…" she panted. "All done…"

Tracy squealed as Macy fell to the floor.

"Now I'm sure to be the most popular girl on the web! I bet every single person in the whole world has clicked on my video and given it a thumbs up! This day couldn't get any better!"

Just then, Tracy received another email that contained a link to a video.

"What's this?" Tracy read the message. "'Rick Salary's Proposal to Tracy Matthews'?! OMG! He's asking me to marry him on a video? That's so romantic! I have to watch it!"

Tracy clicked on the link hoping to see the boy she loved on the screen but instead, she saw one of the boys she hated.

"Hey there fellow viewer! Corey Riffin here! And you've just been…GrojRoll'd!"

Tracy was stunned. "What?!"

"Hit it!"

Corey and the band started playing a familiar song.

_Never gonna give you up_

_Never gonna let you down_

_Never gonna run around and desert you_

Tracy covered her ears.

"No…no! I hate this song! And I hate Grojband even more! I came here to see hunky Rick Salary but instead I got Rick Astley?! I've been trolled by my sister's stupid band?!"

The teenager blasted into the air surrounded by pixelated squares. She grabbed her diary and wrote in it causing her laptop to shoot out fire. When she finished, her flaming pen burned out and she fell toward the ground. Corey's hand came out of the computer screen and he caught the diary. He pulled it back into the cyber world and read through it.

"Get ready Chip, cause this next song almost guarantees a thumbs-up!"

The band started playing their new song.

_You sent me a message but I didn't reply_

_Because it broke my heart and made me cry_

_Your face is even uglier than a scab_

_But I always end up finding you in a new tab_

_One million dislikes will lead to five_

_Cause I'm gonna delete you from my hard drive_

_You pushed my buttons, now I'm mashing my keys_

_You're just like a virus but you have real disease_

_Get out of my head! Why can't you see?_

_That you and I will never have real history_

_Yeah!_

Jackie and King Chip applauded and the latter stood up from his throne.

"Now that's what I call a viral video!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks! So, you really liked it?" Corey asked.

"Absolutely! I don't even know why someone would dislike you in the first place!" the king pulled up a screen with a list of recent activity on Grojband's video. "Besides this T. Matthews person…"

"Who?" Jackie said.

"You know, tmatthews1, tmatthews2, tmatthews3…come to think of it, all of the dislikes are under this name. The only difference is the number…"

Jackie snapped her fingers. "Ah-ha! So it was Tracy who disliked you guys so many times! I should have known!"

Chip closed the page he was on.

"Oh well, as far as I'm concerned, your song was great! You all are free to go!"

Grojband cheered and gave each other high fives. A portal came up and Jackie and the others took their leave. As soon as they were gone, King Chip looked over at the video screen with the red headed singer.

"Drat! I should have made them stay! Now I'll never get that overplayed song out of my head!"

The gang finally arrived back at their garage. The first one to speak was Laney.

"Sorry the whole 'viral video' thing didn't work out Core."

"You know what Lanes? I'm actually glad that it didn't." a spotlight shined on the blue-haired singer. "The internet is a cruel place filled with cruel people. You might try uploading something to a website just to get attention and everyone will bring you down for it. And even if they do take pleasure in what you created, sooner or later, they'll find some cat video to watch and forget the whole thing. If we want people to respect us, we need to show them who we really are instead of just putting a thumbnail over our real faces."

Kon was sitting on the couch watching the video of a cat playing the keyboard.

"Man, why don't we have a cat who can do this?"

"Because Kon, we already have an awesome keyboardist." Jackie poked Kin in the nose. "And a cat can't ever replace him."

Kin went love-struck and fainted.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Okay so now that you're done reading the new chapter, I can finally make my announcement. I realize that we are just getting started with all of the original scenarios and everything but due to the high number of requests I have received in the past few days, I actually want you all to stop leaving requests for a while. Don't worry, I'm not angry about how many suggestions I got, in fact it's actually kind of nice. The point I am trying to make is that there are so many suggestions right now that I need to catch up on my writing. So for now, please don't request anything until say, Chapter 33 so I can get all of the previous suggestions done. Thanks for your support and I'll see you next time!**


	26. Something's Wishy

**Well, I'm still working on suggestions so once again I'm asking you guys not to leave any more until I get done with the current ones. I will let you know when I'm done with those chapters and then you can make requests again (it won't necessarily be when I get all of those chapters uploaded). Also there is one other thing that I would like to address. Today an anonymous reviewer posted a review telling other people to sign a petition to get Grojband a second season. I have removed this person's review because the only two things I want to see in my reviews section are comments and suggestions. I understand that some of you want to spread the word on the continuation of Grojband and I am actually one of those people. However, I don't think it is okay to use somebody else's hard work for your own personal business, even if it's for something that a lot of people can relate to. For one thing, this fanfiction is not popular enough to reach out to a lot of people and won't make much of a difference anyway. Secondly, posting those kinds of reviews is almost like sending out chain letters or spam and this is something that I won't allow in my reviews section. This is why I have chosen to remove the review in question and I will remove any other reviews like this in the future. Go ahead and tell people about Grojband and ask if they can help get it renewed but don't do it in my fanfiction or anyone else's fanfiction for that matter. Okay, that's it. Please enjoy the next chapter which was requested by ultrablud2 via private message and is based on "Wish Upon a Jug".**

* * *

**Chapter 26**

**Something's Wishy**

The garage door to Jackie's house opened and a huge pile of empty jugs came rolling in. Corey, Laney, and Jackie came out from underneath them. Corey was counting how many jugs there were in his head.

"I don't know…think we got enough jugs?"

"Well, how many jugs do you need Core?" Jackie asked.

"One?"

"I think we're fine." Laney rolled her eyes.

Kin and Kon popped up from the jugs (the former had one stuck on his head).

"I can't believe we're gonna be a jug band!" Kin cried out. "The Tranquil Town hoedown won't know what jugged em!"

"That's right Kin, but you're supposed to play music with the jug, not wear it." Jackie pulled the jug off of Kin's head which made him blush.

Laney picked up one of the jugs and blew into the top.

"How did someone think to play one of these?"

Kin and Kon gasped and talked simultaneously.

"Join us as we explore…Rock Lore!"

The two started telling another one of their crazy stories.

"Like a thousand years ago, there was a huge heat wave!"

"The heat was so wavy, that the country music band, the Brotherly Boys, traded their music instruments for jugs of ice cold root beer!"

"But the root beer had boiled away! With no root beer and no music, it was the worst day ever!"

"But their sobs filled the jugs with music! They had new instruments!"

"Let me guess, they toured around playing awesome jug tunes forever. Am I right?" Jackie said.

"Nope." Kon shook his head. "They died of thirst."

"Oh. Well, I bet it would have happened if it wasn't so dry out there."

**WICKED HOT TRANSITION!**

Macy looked at herself in Tracy's mirror, admiring the cowboy hat she was wearing for the hoedown.

"Ugh, why are you wearing that stupid hat?" Tracy questioned.

Macy talked in a country accent. "The 'Down Home' Hoedown looks like fun! And I think like, fun might be fun to have! Maybe…see?"

The girl in glasses pulled out her phone and showed her best friend an advertisement. Mayor Swellow was on the screen wearing a cowboy hat.

"Tonight at the Rodeo Drone! The Tranquil Town hoedown has it all! This hootenanny's gonna be one yahoo of a stage-coachin', stick-to-your-ribs-"

Macy's phone cracked as it hit the pavement outside Jackie's house.

"You didn't have to throw my phone out the window to say no…" Macy mumbled.

"Yes I did!" Tracy insisted. "You know I hate all that country stuff! Even the sound of bumpkins make my teeth hurt!"

That's when she heard jug music coming from the garage.

"Ow." Tracy grabbed her cheek.

Corey and the others were practicing their new country song for the hoedown. They were using the jugs to create sounds.

"Nice jug sound Core!" Jackie commented before she heard a loud crashing noise. She turned around and saw that Tracy was throwing the band's jugs on the ground causing them to break.

"I agree! It sounds like your dreams are being smashed!" Tracy said as she continued cracking the jugs open.

"Hey! We need those jugs for our gig!" Corey yelled.

Tracy picked up another jug and gave it a slight rub.

"Duh! Why else would I smash them?"

But before the selfish teenager could throw the jug she was holding, a magical smoke came out of it and then a green-skinned hillbilly appeared.

"Howdy!" he greeted Tracy, tipping his hat. "I'm a genie. Name's Cleat. I'm here to grant you three wishes."

"A genie?" Jackie was in disbelief. "Really?"

Tracy smiled, automatically knowing what to wish for first.

"I wish my sister's band could never play music again!"

Cleat tipped his hat and spat on the ground. Grojband was zapped with a flash of magic.

"There you go." Cleat said. "Next."

"I wish for a date with Rick Salary!" Tracy squealed.

Cleat tipped his hat and spat again and this time, he, Tracy, and Macy disappeared.

"Uh…what just happened?" Laney asked.

Corey proceeded to explain the whole thing to his bandmates.

"…And then the genie disappeared with Tracy. Got it?"

Kon shook his head but Corey refused to explain it again.

"And now we prove that the genie magic was fake by playing our instruments perfectly!"

Corey picked up his guitar and played a chord but unfortunately for him, it sounded terrible! Jackie covered her ears after hearing the awful riff. Laney played a note on her bass which made all of the strings break. Kon nervously tapped on his drums and waited for something to happen. Nothing did.

"Phew…"

The drum set then caught on fire and Kon screamed. Kin tried playing his keyboard and it made a goat sound.

"And now we panic because…WE CAN'T PLAY!" Kin screamed and he and Kon started running around in a panic.

"Chill out guys!" Jackie started digging through the jugs. "We'll just find another genie and wish up a fix!"

"Boy, if I had a genie, I know what I'd wish for!" Kin stated.

"Cheese?" Kon guessed.

"Uh…yeah, sure. Cheese…" Kin secretly started to imagine himself and Jackie getting married. He pictured her walking down the aisles in a gorgeous wedding gown and then sharing a kiss with him. Kin was too caught up in his fantasies to notice he was puckering his lips toward Laney. The red-headed bassist smacked him across the face to snap him out of it.

"Ow!"

"Keep those lips to yourself Lover Boy!" Laney looked back over at Jackie who was rubbing a milk jug.

"Anyway Jacks, finding two genies in the same pile of jugs would be-" Laney began until a cloud of smoke came out of the milk jug revealing a blue cow with red hair and a cowbell around her neck. "-impossible?"

"Finding one genie should have been impossible too Lanes!" Corey claimed. "Just roll with it!"

"Your wish is my command sugar!" the cow genie said to Jackie.

"I wish my band could play music again!"

"Sorry sweetie. I can't undo another genie's magic. That's a ruuuule."

"You mean we'll never play music again?" Corey asked.

"That's right." The genie nodded before looking back over at Jackie. "But you got three wishes honey. Is there anything else you want?"

Jackie looked down. "All I ever wanted was to hear Grojband's music. And Tracy finally took it away! I wish we were with her! Right now!"

"Youuuu got it hon!" the cow genie's cowbell rang and she and Jackie disappeared.

The others just stood there silently, except for Kin who was searching frantically for his own genie.

"Uh…c'mon Kin. Let's go." Corey told the kid in glasses.

"Wait!" Kin begged rubbing multiple jugs. "Must find genie…make Jackie love me!"

The cow genie's magic teleported the band where Jackie was: the hoedown. Kin still had one of the jugs in his hands.

"Yes!" he rubbed it but all that came out was a fart cloud. "Aww…"

Tracy and Rick were sitting at a table. Rick was confused about how he got there.

"So you're into this horrible country junk?" Tracy smiled creepily. "Me too!"

"Rick Salary isn't sure why he's suddenly on a date with you."

Cleat and Macy were watching from a distance.

"So all she wants is to date this Rick fella and ruin her sister?" Cleat asked.

"No, this is just the important stuff." Macy replied. "She likes purses too."

Jackie and the gang were watching Tracy and Rick from behind some stacks of hay.

"I wish Tracy had a pig face!" Jackie ordered.

The cow genie sighed and her cowbell rang. Rick stood up from his seat and walked away.

"Rick's gonna get us some corn dogs."

When Rick was gone, Tracy's face turned pink and her nose became a snout.

"Gross! Corn dogs make me-" she snorted. "Wait…nothing makes me…"

She snorted again. Macy came up to the table holding her makeup case.

"Hold still. You look a bit…pink."

Tracy snatched Macy's mirror and looked in it. She was shocked to see a pig's face and the mirror cracked from her ugliness. Tracy gasped which sounded more like a pig squeal.

"I mean, ugh!" she corrected herself. "I can't let Rick Salary see me like this! Whatever's going on, I wish myself back to normal!"

"Someone wished your face all piggy!" Cleat explained. "It's against the rules for me to un-genie another genie's magic."

"Another genie's magic?!"

Tracy looked behind her and saw Jackie smiling. She gave her sister a scowl in return.

"Hello there Cleat." Jackie's genie said.

Cleat tipped his hat. "Howdy Bessy."

Jackie faced her evil sibling.

"What? You didn't think I'd find my own genie and get revenge?"

"You want a wish war? I'll give you one! I wish-"

"Last one." Jackie reminded her. "Better make it count."

Tracy thought about her final wish until she realized that it didn't have to be her final one.

"I wish for a million wishes!"

Cleat tipped his hat and spat on the ground, granting the wish.

"There you go."

"What?!" Jackie shouted. "You can wish for more wishes?!"

"Sure." Bessy shrugged. "That's one wish. I don't know why everybody doesn't dooooo that."

"Then I wish for a million wishes!"

Bessy rang her cowbell giving Jackie what she wanted. The wish war had officially begun.

"I wish you were as gross as I think you are!" Tracy exclaimed.

Cleat spat and Jackie was covered with green muck.

"Ew! I wish I could give you a hug!"

Bessy rang her cowbell and Jackie attracted Tracy toward her like a magnet. Tracy screamed in disgust as Jackie wrapped her slimy arms around her.

"Worst! I wish I was electrified!"

Cleat spat and Tracy zapped Jackie off of her.

"Ow! I wish you were always itchy!"

Tracy started scratching herself everywhere.

"I wish Jack Matterson's band, The Newmans, were the biggest band in the world!"

"NOOOOO!"

The door to the building opened and Jack stepped in.

"Hey Matthews!" he called out. "Take a look at my band! They're huge!"

The ground started shaking and everyone could hear loud booming noises that were almost like footsteps. Suddenly, the roof of the building was torn off and Jackie and Grojband looked up to see the Newmans. They were giant-sized!

"You got that right Jack!" Carrie picked up her manager. "We're so much bigger than Grojband and like, most buildings!"

With that said, Jack and the doppelganger band laughed evilly.

"I wish Jack and the Newmans would go to the mall!" Jackie requested.

The Newmans were gone as soon as Bessy granted Jackie's wish and a crash could be heard from a distance.

"Guys! I seriously crushed the mall!" they all heard Carrie say. Tracy squealed angrily.

"I wish you had restless leg syndrome!"

Jackie gasped as her legs started moving around uncontrollably. Cleat whispered to Bessy.

"This is worse than the time we gave wishes to that dog and cat."

"They're family." Bessy reassured him. "They'll realize they love each other soooon."

**NO THEY WON'T TRANSITION!**

The group was now floating in space.

"I wish there was no moon so Tracy can never have a moonlight kiss!"

The moon exploded into dust.

"Okay." Bessy told Cleat. "Yooouuu were right."

Corey floated up to his manager.

"Jacks, maybe you should stop trying to get back at Tracy."

The others joined him.

"Wrecking the moon isn't going to help us play music again." Laney added.

"Sure, revenge is delicious." Kon claimed. "But it won't make you fat. Just empty."

"You can blow up a million moons…" Kin continued. "And it'll never be enough."

Jackie sighed. "You're right. I just wish I knew how to get your music back."

Bessy heard her and granted the wish.

"And now I do! And the best part is, you guys can play the hoedown!"

"Oh no you don't!" Tracy interrupted. "I wish-"

"No! I wish Tracy could finish her date with Rick Salary!"

Cleat and Bessy glanced at each other, confused by Jackie's wish. But they were genies and they had to do as their masters told them to so Bessy rang her cowbell and they all teleported back to Earth.

Rick was sitting at the table holding two corndog sticks (only one had a corndog still on it).

"This second corndog is calling Rick Salary's name." Rick moved the corndog as if it was talking to him. "Rick Salary…"

Tracy reappeared in the seat in front of him and squealed fearfully.

"I mean, no!"

"Rick doesn't dig abominations. Dibs on your corndog though." The popular boy started eating the corndog he originally bought for his date, then left.

Tracy snorted and gave Jackie a death stare.

"I was so wrong to mess up your date sis." Jackie smiled innocently. "So I thought I'd make things right. What else are sisters for?"

"You are unstandable! I wish we were unrelated!"

Cleat spat on the ground.

"There you go."

Laney was confused. "What was that all about?"

"Tracy wished her sister's band could never play music again…" Jackie explained. "But now, I'm not her sister!"

"And we're not her sister's band!" Laney now understood.

"So if I wished for my band to be an awesome jug band…"

"It would be my command honey!" Bessy grinned and magically teleported Grojband on stage.

"Looky Lou buckaroo!" Mayor Swellow announced into a microphone. "A hoedown ain't no-down without a jug band throwdown! Give a big yahoo for Grojband!"

The band started to play their instruments and to their surprise, they sounded perfect.

"We're playing!" Kon laughed. "We're awesome again!"

"And here come the lyrics!" Corey pointed over to where Tracy, Macy, and the genies were.

"No music!" Tracy snorted. "I wished it away!"

"But your last wish undid your first!" Cleat told her. "Jackie's used your wishin' against ya. I guess you lose."

Tracy was furious. She squealed loudly before blasting into the air surrounded by jugs. She summoned her diary and wrote flames inside of it. This caused lightning to strike above the building. The Newmans saw this and were terrified. When Tracy was finished writing, she fell into the mud where a bunch of pigs were. The pigs thought that she was one of them so they started licking her. The long-haired girl shuddered in disgust. Corey caught Tracy's diary and he and the others started the song over.

_Corey: Yee-haw! _

_Corey and Laney: Oh I wish I had a nickel for every wish I made_

_When I was feeling fickle, my heart was getting swayed_

_But one wish led to two wish and two wish led to more_

_And that big ol pile of wishes left me battered, bruised, and sore_

_Corey: Cause everything that's happened_

_All: Made a big ol mess of me!_

_Corey: So I wish away my wishes_

_All: Undo, reset, control Z!_

Bessy and Cleat winked at each other and Cleat undid all of Tracy's wishes (since the words Corey was singing were her words originally). Jackie became clean and her legs stopped moving around. The Newmans shrunk back down to normal size, much to Jack's dismay.

Corey tossed Jackie the microphone. "Take it Jacks!"

_Jackie: Oh you made a million wishes to knock me down to size_

_Then I made a million more and knocked you to the sky_

_You can have your cool boyfriend, it's the least that I can do_

_Just let my friends play music for everyone but you_

Bessy restored the moon to its former shape and Tracy's pig face returned to normal. Unfortunately for her, the pigs weren't happy when they found out she wasn't like them.

_Jackie: Cause everything that's happened_

_All: Made a big ol mess of me!_

_Jackie: So I wish away my wishes_

_All: Undo reset control Z!_

_Corey: Jug solo everybody!_

The band finished the song by playing music from their jugs and the crowd went wild. Mayor Swellow rushed onto the stage.

"That was fun! Tell me you ain't done! Toot that jug and let's cut a new rug!"

Jackie shook her head. "Thank you Mr. Mayor, but I wish we never found these genies!"

"Now you're talkin' sweetpea!" Bessy rang her cowbell and Jackie and the band were taken back to the beginning of the chapter. The jugs had turned into beach balls.

"Sorry guys." Jackie said. "I guess you can't be a jug band after all."

"It's cool Jacks. No big deal." Corey reassured the brunette.

"You're taking this well dude." Kin observed.

A spotlight shined on Corey. "We can wish things were different guys. But then they wouldn't be real. It's one thing to pick up a milk bottle and make the moon explode, but it's real life when you take what comes your way and make the best of it."

The other four stared at Corey looking perplexed.

"Um…Core? Isn't it a bit early for your final thought?" Laney questioned.

"I'm confused too Lanes. But there's no going back. Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**I will start taking suggestions when I finish Chapter 35 so if you have one, please hold off until later. Once again, I most likely won't have all of those chapters posted when I am done with them so make sure to read the author's notes for updates. Bye!**


	27. Speed Demons

**Hey guys! Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. School has been really stressful these past few weeks. Luckily, I'm on spring break now so I should have more time to upload chapters. This new one is based off of "Indie Road Rager" which was requested by a guest reviewer.**

* * *

**Chapter 27**

**Speed Demons**

Kin pressed a button on the helmet he was wearing, giving him shades.

"Pre-launch checklist…skateboard…safety equipment…booster speaker…random stunt duck…"

The keyboardist was standing on a skateboard wearing pillows around his waist. A speaker was tied down to the skateboard and a duck with a helmet was sitting on Kin's head.

"Baseboard MK1 is go! Activate bass base propulsion system!"

Kon was holding Laney's bass.

"Uh, I don't play bass…"

"It's okay. Just pluck a string with your finger."

Kon did so and then…

**CRASH!**

Tracy and Macy were in Tracy's room and when Macy heard the loud sound, she screamed and grabbed onto Tracy. Tracy shoved off her drone in annoyance.

"Get off Macy! Honestly, you're just like me when I was a scared baby like you." The dark-haired teen walked over to her dresser and opened one of the drawers. "I was, at least until I found someone to keep me safe from loud noises!"

Tracy pulled out a stuffed mouse from the drawer.

"Mr. Mouseface!"

She smiled as she started remembering the time when she was four and heard a loud noise at night. She had sat up in bed and grabbed onto her toy.

"What's that cwunching Mr. Mouseface?" she had asked the doll.

She then found out that the sound was coming from under her bed. She stuck Mr. Mouseface under the bed before looking under it herself. She was surprised to see a two-year old Jackie eating chips under her bed.

"Jackie!" Young Tracy shoved Mr. Mouseface into her little sister's face. "GET OUT!"

Young Jackie was terrified and she ran away. Present Tracy sighed happily after recounting her hatred of Jackie at a young age.

"Aw, that's super cute!" Macy giggled.

"IT'S THE PAST!" Tracy yelled before kissing Mr. Mouseface and putting him back in his drawer. "Now help me prep for my job as flag girl at the big car race thing! Which flag makes me look cuter? White on black or black on white? Your answer had better match mine!"

Macy shivered in fear.

Meanwhile, Jackie, Corey, and Laney were noticing the giant hole in the garage.

"Whoa! Somebody's making science!" Corey observed.

"Kin! What did you do now?" Jackie asked.

"Sorry Jackie." Kin was stuck inside the trunk of a tree. "We just had a minor setback."

"It's a crash dude." Kon patted his brother on the head. "Don't dress it up."

"Kin, this just isn't working." Laney sighed. "I gotta pull your funding."

"Fine! I'll invent for myself and go indie!" Kin high-fived Kon.

"Awesome!" Corey cried.

"Yeah, who needs Laney's two bucks a day anyway?"

"Not that!" Corey pulled Kin and Kon toward his face. "No label pushing you around, no rules, that could be us guys!"

"Um, Corey? That's kind of what you are now." Jackie pointed out.

"But it's not good enough Jacks! Grojband is going indie! And I know just where to do it."

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

"At the Tranquil Town speed circle this Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" an announcer said over a microphone.

"It's the Indie Road Rager!" another announcer continued. "The independent racing challenge where all drivers are welcome!"

The announcers started introducing some of the racers.

"Meet School Bus Rachel! She's gonna school you all! Monster Buck! His truck is two trucks tall! And Ice Cream Tim! Try his Sundae! Sundae! Sundae!"

"The Indie Road Rager! Four wheels and no questions asked!"

Jackie and Grojband met up with the two similar looking announcers.

"Welcome to the race!" the shorter one greeted. "I'm Dan!"

"And I'm Danny!" the other said.

"Hi Dan and Danny!" Corey replied. "We're Grojband! Your new winners!"

Laney was shocked. She grabbed Corey by the ear and pulled him aside.

"Whoa! Indie means independent Core! A small band and a girl who manages it with a do-it-yourself attitude. Not a car race that could kill us!"

"Yeah Corey, and we don't even have driver's licenses!" Jackie added.

"We don't need any Jacks! That's the best part! And we're gonna be the ones killing out there Lanes! Especially when we rock the winner's circle in front of a million fans!"

That's when Tracy and Macy showed up. Tracy was carrying a checkered flag for her job.

"Ha! You guys are so not winner circle material! It's only for winners! And the super cute flag girl who hands them the trophy! Guess what? You're none of the above!"

"Oh yeah? Well maybe we're gonna be all of the above!" Corey remarked. "Except for the cute girl."

"Hey!" Jackie and Laney shouted.

Tracy rolled her eyes. "C'mon Macy. Let's get out of here!"

Macy pulled a smoke bomb out of her skirt pocket and threw it on the ground. When the smoke cleared, the two were gone.

"So Grojband, what are you driving?" Dan asked.

There was an awkward pause amongst the group as they realized that they didn't own a car.

Corey laughed nervously. "We'll be right back."

The gang headed back to the garage so they could build their own vehicle for the race. Okay, so it was mostly Kin who did the building. The rest had to stay outside the house until he was done. A little while later, Kin invited them back inside.

"Using my research from the abandoned baseboard project…" Kin looked over at Laney. "I proudly present to you, the first and only…Grojcar!"

Kin showed off his invention and the others stared at it in awe.

"Cool…"

"It's propelled by speakers." Kin explained. "The harder we rock, the faster we go!"

"Then we'll rock so hard, no one will catch us!" Corey finished.

Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kon started high-fiving each other and cheering.

"Woohoo! Yeah!"

"We rock!"

"Teamwork!"

"All of us!"

Kin pulled out a sock puppet and started making it talk.

"Thanks for building the cart Kin."

Jackie saw this and cleared her throat loudly, hinting to the others to show their friend some appreciation.

"Oh yeah!"

"Thanks!"

"That's my bro!"

"And you get the biggest 'thank you' of all from me Kin." Jackie squeezed her favorite keyboardist into a hug. "Your inventions are the greatest!"

Kin squealed and hearts popped out of him.

"You're…welcome…" Kin held a hand to his head and he fainted.

**KIDS SHOULD NOT BUILD CARTS!**

The carts were all lining up at the starting line at the speed circle.

"Welcome our newest entry…Jackie Matthews and Grojband!" Dan said over the mic.

Tracy was watching from her post.

"Grojband?! There's no way I'm going to hand that winner trophy to my unwinner sister and her grody band!" Tracy grabbed Macy by her shirt collar and dragged her away. "Let's go!"

Jackie and Grojband were being helped out by their groupies, Kelsey and Alyssa.

"Thanks for being our pit crew you two!" Corey said.

"Anything for our favorite band!" the girls responded simultaneously.

"So Core," Laney began. "Let's say we actually win this thing."

Corey held out his hand to give Laney a high-five. "Yeah, let's say that!"

Laney didn't return the high-five.

"How are we gonna get a new song?"

"No problem Laney!" Jackie stated. "Tracy's here and when we win, she'll lose it! She'll write in her diary and you guys will have a new song! I guess having her around is a good thing sometimes."

"Yeah…" Laney muttered. "And cut to-"

"Nice bus Rachel!" Tracy commented to the school teacher. "Too bad my no-good sister, Jackie, and her rotten band of hooligans ripped off your stop sign."

Rachel gasped when she saw the stop sign on her bus was gone.

"Aw geez! Without that sign, kids could be crushed! I'm gonna crush those kids!"

Tracy looked over at Macy, who was holding the stop sign, and gave her a thumbs-up.

The mean teen went over to Monster Buck. His truck was floating way up high in the air.

"Your truck is really tall!" Tracy claimed. "And it's even taller since Jackie filled your tires with helium. And then popped them with arrows."

An arrow came out of nowhere and popped one of the tires on Buck's truck, sending it flying around until it crashed.

"I'm gonna pop that girl for good!" Buck screamed.

Tracy gave Macy another thumbs-up after she successfully shot Buck's tires. Ice Cream Tim was next.

"It was so lame of Jackie to replace all your ice cream with angry bees!"

Tim looked at the cone in his hand and sure enough, bees were on top of it. The bees attacked Tim's face and it turned red and swollen.

"I don't know any bee puns, but I'm gonna ram Jackie with my truck!"

Macy was holding a beehive and wearing a beekeeping suit. Tracy once again, gave her a thumbs-up. The two proceeded to ruin the rest of the racer's carts.

"Looks like Grojband."

"Grojband."

"Grojband."

"Grojband."

"Grojband."

"Grojband."

"DESTROY GROJBAND!" the racers yelled angrily.

"There!" Tracy walked up to Macy. "Now everyone wants to crush Jackie! This is great!"

Macy looked at the beehive in her hand and shuddered nervously.

**BEES! BEES! VERY STINGY!**

The race was just about to begin. The carts took their positions near the starting line.

"Grr…"

"I love that engine sound!" Kon imitated the noise he heard behind him.

Kin turned around. "They haven't started their engines."

"Grr…" the racers growled.

"Huh, that's weird. Why are they so angry?" Jackie wondered.

"Racers! Start your engines!" Dan ordered.

The racers started their engines for real and at the same time, kept scowling furiously. Jackie looked over where Tracy was and saw that she was smiling wickedly. Tracy let down the flag and Grojband immediately started playing their instruments. Just like Kin had said, the cart was powered by their music and it moved very fast. However, the other racers were fast too and started gaining on the kid band. Jackie didn't like the looks she was getting.

"Quick Corey! We need some getaway music!"

"On it Jacks!" Corey pulled out a banjo and started playing a fast-paced song. They successfully escaped the other drivers.

"Grojband takes the lead!" Dan exclaimed. "What a wild race folks!"

"This isn't a race Dan!" Danny corrected his partner. "It's a chase! This could get messy!"

Two of the cars collided into each other after trying to smash into Grojband's cart. Then Rachel caught up and a blade came out of her bus. Ice Cream Tim came up from the other side.

"Eat sprinkles bee monger!" Tim threw a handful of sprinkles toward Jackie.

"Jackie look out!" Kin shoved the love of his life out of the way while Laney unplugged the speaker controlling the cart. The sprinkles hit Rachel's glasses.

"My eyes!" she cried out. "So many colors!"

The bus driver couldn't see where she was going and she accidentally sliced Tim's ice cream truck in half with her blade.

Kelsey and Alyssa rushed over to help the band.

"Core, forget about the winner's circle!" Jackie panicked. "We need lyrics! Now!"

Alyssa offered Kon a bucket to put his hot drumsticks in.

"Yeah, we gotta rock harder if we wanna win!"

Kelsey cleaned off Kin's glasses.

"What if we just wanna live?"

"We'll do both!" Corey declared. "We need to rock out about the dangers of bad driving to make those guys slow down!"

"You read my mind Core!" Jackie slapped Corey on the back.

"But Tracy's up in that tower!" Laney reminded them. "How are we gonna get her to write about danger if she's way up there!"

"We'll endanger her safety!" Corey decided. "Pit crew!"

"Yes Corey?" Kelsey and Alyssa popped up in front of the singer.

"We're gonna need some spare parts. Think you can go back to Jackie's house and get something out of Tracy's room for us?"

"Sure!" the girls squealed excitedly.

"Just go into her room and open the top drawer." Jackie informed the two fans. "Bring whatever is in that drawer back here. But be careful girls. Tracy's room is dangerous."

"We will Jackie!" Kelsey and Alyssa promised and then they were off.

When they got inside Tracy's room, they looked around for the dresser.

"There it is!" Alyssa pointed to it.

"I don't know why Jackie was worried." Kelsey shrugged. "This place isn't dangerous!"

Suddenly, an alarm started going off and a green gas came out of the vents. The girls screamed and grabbed each other as red lights shined over them.

"Grojband, clearly terrified to return to the race!" Dan reported.

"I can't blame them! Blame them! Blame them!" Danny added.

"Oh, where are those girls?" Jackie was worried.

"We're back." Alyssa was dragging an exhausted Kelsey over to Grojband's cart. Kelsey was holding a briefcase. "Sorry about that wait."

"There was gas." Kelsey coughed.

Jackie took the briefcase and opened it up. Inside was Tracy's beloved childhood toy, Mr. Mouseface.

"So what's the plan Jacks?" Laney asked.

"Mr. Mouseface was Tracy's favorite toy when she was a kid. And also her safety charm!" the manager taped Mr. Mouseface to the front of the cart. "Let's see what happens when he's in danger!"

"All right! Let's roll!" Corey started playing his guitar again and the cart raced to the front of the pack. The other racers followed them. Tracy looked into a pair of binoculars.

"They are so gonna get it!" she chuckled but then gasped when she saw something familiar at the front of the cart. "Mr. Mouseface! What are you doing?!"

"Uh-oh…that's not safe…" Macy noted.

"He's in danger! He's so scared! And I made that danger happen!"

Fire surrounded Tracy and Macy jumped out of the tower for safety.

"MR. MOUSEFACE! NOOOO!"

Tracy started going into her Diary Mode. This time, she was surrounded by a tire and a traffic cone. She grabbed her diary and wrote angry flames inside of it. Lightning struck from above the circle and stacks of tires and gas pumps shot out fire. Tracy soon finished and landed on top of the burnt flag girl tower. Her diary fell out of her hands and Corey caught it.

"Time to give these speed demons a safety lesson!"

The band started playing a song.

_You wanna hit the gas for speed_

_You wanna win and take the lead_

_Don't move too fast just wait and see_

_Oh man! You're gonna bleed_

Rachel pressed her foot on the brake pedal.

"Bleed? I've got kids on board!"

_You better think and hit the brakes_

_You'd better move and play it safe_

_Cause when you drive out of control_

_You're gonna chafe, flip, and roll!_

Buck stopped his truck.

"That was close! Could have been hurt!"

Tracy shoved the short man out of his truck and took the wheel.

"Out of my way munchkin!"

_Smash, crash, hit the dash_

_Time to get riled up_

_Thrash, bash, burn, and crash_

_You're gonna get a pile up_

When the drivers heard these words, they were scared and immediately stopped driving.

"It's working!" Laney exclaimed. "They're backing off!"

"No maniac is gonna stop us now!" Corey cheered.

"Uh, you forgot about that maniac!" Jackie pointed up at Monster Buck's truck which Tracy was now driving.

"GIVE ME MY MOUSEFACE!" Tracy demanded.

"Laney! Give her the mouse!" Jackie told her bassist.

Corey continued playing an awesome riff on his guitar. This gave the cart an extra boost of speed.

"Grojband with a burst of speed!" Danny announced. "But they've still got a lap to make up!"

Laney grabbed the stuffed mouse from the front of the car.

"Hurry!" Corey begged. "I can't solo forever!"

Laney jumped up and threw Mr. Mouseface at the windshield causing Tracy to scream. She was so horrified that she accidentally hit the gas pedal and crashed against the wall. Jackie and Grojband made it across the finish line safely. Corey stopped playing his guitar and grasped his aching hand. Macy waved the checkered flag.

"And Grojcar wins! Oh what a race!"

Confetti poured down on the five of them and they waved to the audience. Afterwards, they were all invited to the winner's circle. Tracy was there as well looking angry. In one hand she had Mr. Mouseface and in the other she had the first place trophy. Jackie folded her arms and smiled as Tracy reluctantly handed her the trophy.

"Congratulations…" she growled before walking off.

Jackie gave the trophy to Corey and he held it up in the air.

"Looks like my bass propulsion works!" Kin said to Laney. "Too bad my funding was pulled."

Laney groaned. "I'll give you two bucks for a baseboard."

"Sold!"

"Congratulations Grojband!" Dan said. "How does it feel to be in the winner's circle?"

Corey gave the two announcers the trophy.

"Sorry Dan and Danny. But this circle's a square." He snapped his fingers and a spotlight appeared over him. "It's like you're trying to put us in a box and that just isn't indie. Life is made of turns, not corners. Circles hug, corners bug."

The audience members stared at the beanie-wearing kid in silence.

"That monologue could use a tune-up." Laney told the leader.

"Well, when you're right Lanes, check for cyclists! Thanks for coming out everyone!"

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**Still have two more chapters to write so please hold off on requests until I get them done. I'll have the next one up tomorrow. See you then!**


	28. Correction Protection

**Okay here's another one as promised. Had to make sure this one was 'perfect' because, you guessed it, it's based off of "Helmet" (requested by Madison Wooten). This chapter is also for all those people who believe Jackie to be a "Mary Sue", if there are any people who believe that. **

* * *

**Chapter 28**

**Correction Protection**

Kon breathed heavily as he tugged on the straps to the lederhosen he was wearing. Sweat was streaming down his face which indicated that he was struggling. A lot.

"You can do it Kon!" Laney encouraged. Her red hair was in pigtails and she had on a green dress. "Focus!"

Kon moaned loudly but he finally got the straps over his shoulders. He smiled full of pride.

"Looking good guys!" Jackie complimented her band while giving Kin a hat. "You look totally Swiss! You're so ready to play at the Alpine Horn and Chocolate Watch Expo!"

Jackie pulled up a video on her laptop showing a commercial for the event.

"You vill find ze vorld's most accurate Ferris vheel!" a Swiss man said. "You vill enter raffle to win ze vorld's largest chocolate diamond! And also, please to remember, ze overlarged horns!"

Kelsey and Alyssa were dressed in Swiss outfits and blowing on two large alpine horns.

"Awesuummm!" Kon licked his lips.

"Well, you guys had better practice if you wanna sound perfect at the expo!" Jackie shut off her laptop. "Hey, where's Corey?"

As if on cue, Corey came into the garage looking very excited.

"Knock, knock!"

"Who's there?" the others called back.

"Swiss goodness! Are you guys ready to get Swiss?"

Laney put her hands on Corey's shoulders.

"Slow down tiger! You're so wound up, your voice is cracking!"

"My voice!" Corey panicked. "We can't play this gig if I don't sound perfect! The Swiss are all about precision and perfection! What do we do?!"

"We could just AutoTone your voice." Kin suggested.

"How Kin?" Jackie wondered aloud.

Kin pulled out one of his newest inventions.

"With a wicked techno helmet!"

"Ooh…" Corey gazed at the helmet until Kin put it over his head.

"How do you feel Core?" Jackie asked.

"I can smell my own breath in here!" Corey said but his voice sounded different. "Whoa! I sound right tight! My voice is AutoToned!"

"That's great Corey!" Jackie clamped her hands together.

The others meanwhile, had started playing their instruments.

"Everything you say just makes me wanna rock out!" Kin explained, tossing Corey a juice box. "Hey! Read this!"

Corey caught the juice box and started reading (or rather singing) the ingredients.

"Tap water, artificial grape juice, SUGAR!" the helmet made him soar through the air. "And carbonated crystals!"

In another part of the house, Tracy was also making plans to go to the Swiss Expo so she could win the enormous chocolate diamond. Macy was with her to make sure Tracy did win it.

"Um Tracy? Raffles are supposed to be random…" Macy reminded her.

"Raffles are for randoms Macy! Cool people cheat!" Tracy handed Macy a scuba mask and flippers. "Like you will to win me that one-and-only Swiss chocolate diamond!"

"You'll be the talk of the expo!"

"And you'll be that girl who's with me."

Macy smiled. She finally found one of the benefits of being friends with Tracy. The girls started heading for the front door of the house until they heard music coming from the garage. Tracy peeked inside the window to see what was going on.

"May contain trace amounts of fruit! Fruit! Fruit! FRUUIIITT!" Corey sang.

Tracy growled at her sister and the band.

"We are gonna cruuuush the Choco Watch Expoooo!" Corey landed on the stage and the others cheered.

"That chocolate diamond is gonna taste disgusting if Jackie and her Grossband are around ruining everything!"

"Maybe some super easy way to ruin their gig will present itself!" Macy noted.

"Just one thing Corey." Kin began to warn the band leader. "Absolutely under no condition can you ever, and I mean never, ever, never! Push the red button."

Kin turned the helmet around revealing a red button with an evil face on it.

"Or else!"

"Yes!" Tracy slowly opened the door and snuck over to where Corey and Kin were.

"Can't touch it." Kin reminded Corey. "Not one time. Nope, nope, nope!"

Tracy spotted the button on the helmet and pressed it. After that, she ran out of the garage before she could be spotted. The helmet on Corey started malfunctioning.

"Ooh…" Corey floated through the air until a flash from the helmet brought him back down. The helmet now had evil red eyes.

"Everything must be made perfect!" Corey said through the helmet.

Nobody else seemed to realize the helmet's new intentions.

"You heard him guys!" Jackie sat down. "Show me what you got!"

The other three rockers started playing their instruments. When Corey heard them, the helmet fired a laser at all of them making the instruments AutoToned.

"Dude!" Kin exclaimed. "Did you seriously just AutoTone the entire band?"

"Okay this is starting to get way out of…" Laney's bangs were then cut. "Control…"

"Imperfections will be corrected! Or destroyed!"

"Grab him guys!" Jackie grabbed a hold of Corey and the others pinned him down.

**EVIL TWIST TRANSITION!**

Soon Corey was tied up and Kin was trying to unscrew the helmet off.

"Why would you even make a helmet with an evil button?" Laney asked Kin.

Kin just rolled his eyes at the silly question.

"These ropes should be tighter!" Corey observed. "Imperfection detected!"

"Kin! Do something!" Jackie cried.

Kin tossed the screwdriver and started tugging on the helmet. Laney helped.

"That helmet is a danger to your head Core!"

"That's irony right?" Kon chimed in.

The helmet started to malfunction again for this time Corey was trying to gain control of it.

"Fight it Core!" Jackie insisted.

"But we need it to play the Swiss Expo!" Corey said before the helmet regained control.

"I will play the expo without you and without flaw!"

"Get off my HEAD!" Corey screamed and tossed the helmet off of his head. The helmet flew out the garage door and bounced away.

Corey's head hit the floor and he sighed with relief.

"You okay Core?" Jackie asked.

"Feeling great Jacks!" Corey's voice was still cracking but he was glad to be rid of Kin's invention.

Kin looked around. "Anyone know where the helmet went?"

"Helmet go bye-bye!" Kon turned on the TV to the news. "TV go on-on!"

"This just in!" Destiny Providence announced. "Bizarre evil flying robot helmet is attacking Tranquil Town!"

"Hey! I know that guy!" Kon pointed at the screen.

"The helmet is destroying everything it considers imperfect! Lawns! Schools! Everyone should stay indoors unless they are completely perfect!"

The helmet used its rockets to fly up to Destiny. It spoke in its own voice.

"This hair is…perfect. Destruction not necessary!" The helmet flew away.

"No one knows where it's going…" Destiny continued.

The helmet flew back down.

"Incorrect! I will absorb the perfection of the Swiss Expo!" it moved toward the camera. "And I will have the power to destroy every flaw in Tranquil Town!"

The helmet zapped the camera and the news report ended. Everyone in the garage glared at Kin since it was clearly his fault.

"Okay, okay! I won't put an evil switch on the next helmet!" Kin raised his hand. "Promise."

"And no escape rockets!" Laney scolded.

"Or laser eyes!" Kon added.

"Or cattle prods!" Jackie poked Kin's nose.

"She's so cute when she's angry…" Kin giggled to himself.

"Guys! We need to stop that helmet before it takes over the town!" Corey's voice cracked.

**THE HELMET'S GONNA KILL US ALL!**

At the Tranquil Town carnival, the Swiss Expo was just beginning. Mayor Swellow took his place on stage next to the raffling machine.

"Welcome to the Alpine Horn Choco Watch Expo! The Swiss can't miss with bling like this!" the mayor showed off his watch which was made completely of chocolate. He gave it a good lick. "Mm-mm! It's yum o' clock! Time to unveil this year's scrumdillyicious raffle prize!"

Mayor Swellow revealed the giant chocolate diamond and the crowd applauded.

Tracy and Macy were hiding behind the delicious delicacy.

"Can I try some?" Macy requested.

"No way!" Tracy yelled selfishly. "But, you might get to taste an itsy bitsy morsel if you win it for me."

The taller teen handed the red-headed teen her ball which was pink and had a heart on it.

"Macy! Raffle rigging!"

Macy put on her snorkel and flippers and dove into the raffle machine.

At the same time, the helmet had found the Swiss event and was taking a particular interest in the Ferris wheel.

"I will absorb this perfect machine and become unstoppable!" it told itself. "But how to interface with it?"

"I didn't make you hammer proof!"

The helmet turned around and saw Kin jumping at it with a hammer. The scientist smacked the helmet with the hammer and it flew toward the Ferris wheel. Unfortunately, this made the helmet bind with the kiddie ride.

"Interface complete!" the helmet used its rockets to fly the Ferris wheel into the air. "Constructing perfect giant robot body!"

The Ferris wheel morphed into eight metal claws and gained rocket feet.

Jackie glared at Kin because he just made things even worse. Kin blushed.

"Heh, heh…whoopsie…"

"Why don't you just let me handle this Kin?" Jackie stepped forward. "Hey metalhead!"

The robot landed next to the band.

"Listen up! Your constant need for perfection is annoying everybody! As manager of this band, I order you to stop!"

The robot started to scan Jackie.

"What are you doing? I said knock it off!"

"Do my flawless sensors deceive me? It can't be true! But it is! My sensors have indicated that this human is…Jackie Matthews! Otherwise known as…the most perfect creature in Tranquil Town!"

The robot's eyes turned to hearts.

"I must have this creature and use her uncontainable beauty to perfect this town!"

The robot used one of its metal claws to grab Jackie.

"Hey! Put me down!" Jackie demanded.

"Now that I have a perfect body and a perfect power source, there's nothing that can stop me!"

The helmet robot stomped back over to the Swiss Expo.

"Oh no! It's got our manager!" Corey waved his arms frantically.

"What does it even want with Jackie?" Laney wondered. "She's not even close to being perfect!"

"You forgot that Kin made that thing." Kon pointed out.

Kin was holding a picture frame of Jackie. He kissed it passionately and held it to his heart.

"So what do we do now?" Laney looked toward the front man.

"We need to blow its mind with something it can't make perfect or destroy!"

"Love?" Kin looked hopeful.

"No. I've got a crazy plan that just might work! Let's roll out!"

Corey led the others to the stage and Laney climbed up the fake mountain backdrop.

"So, all I have to do is find Tracy's ball and make sure she wins the chocolate diamond?" Laney confirmed.

"Exactly!" Corey nodded. "And when she takes that first chomp of sweet, sweet chocolate, she's going to go all Swiss bliss and we'll have our lyrics!"

"And your cracky voice singing will stop that thing and save Jackie?"

"My cracky voice singing and the most un-AutoTone-able band in the world!"

Kin and Kon were wrecking their own instruments like Corey had told them to. Kin charged toward a speaker and smashed Laney's bass inside of it. The bass broke and Kin crashed face first into his keyboard, breaking it in half.

"Man, my bass…" Laney sighed.

"I know! Awesome!" Corey's voice cracked from his excitement.

Laney just groaned and got into the raffle machine.

Mayor Swellow got back onto the stage to start the raffle.

"Fans of chocolate, form a line! Cause when I hit this button, it's raffling time!"

The mayor pressed the button and the raffling machine spun around. When it stopped, Laney stood up holding Tracy's ball.

"Bingo! Or…raffle…or whatever!"

Suddenly, the ball was snatched out of Laney's hand. She saw that Macy was in the machine too.

"Hey! You're cheating!"

Laney started tugging on the ball.

"I need Tracy to win!"

"I need Tracy to win!"

They both stopped and talked at the same time.

"Huh? We're on the same team?"

The door to the machine opened and both red-haired girls ducked under the balls. Mayor Swellow grabbed the one in both of their hands and took it out.

"And the winner of this chocolate biz is…Tracy Ma-"

Tracy screamed before the politician could finish and jumped on top of the diamond.

"Chocolate!" she took a big bite. "It's perfect!"

Tracy giggled and blasted into the air surrounded by hearts. She was smiling and her tongue was hanging out of her mouth. She summoned her diary and wrote hearts across the pages. The sky filled with pink clouds. When Tracy was done, she fell back to the ground looking very happy. Corey was standing on top of the fake mountain scenery when he caught the diary.

"Got it!" he slid down the mountain and onto the stage. "And with time to spare!"

Laney came out of the raffling machine.

"Not really. We kind of forgot about that guy!" Laney pointed upward where the robot helmet was floating in midair with Jackie in its claw.

"Ha, ha, ha! Correction!" the helmet zapped Mayor Swellow, giving him hair.

"Correction approved!" the mayor walked off.

The helmet started correcting even more things such as turning the carnival snacks into vegetables and making a really fat guy buff.

"Oh yeah?" Corey called the machine over. "Try to fix this FailBot!"

Laney strummed her broken bass, Kin played random notes on his broken keyboard and Kon smacked his drumsticks on one of his drums. Corey screamed loudly into a microphone causing the speakers to explode.

"Too many imperfections detected!" the robot said. "I will have to use my ultimate source of flawlessness!"

The robot aimed Jackie at the band and waited for her to perfect them. But nothing happened.

"Hey, what do you think I am? An eraser?" Jackie questioned.

"Impossible! You are the most perfect creature!"

"No I'm not." Jackie shook her head. "You just think I am. I get it though. When you love something a whole lot, it's hard to accept the fact that it's not perfect. Like me. You think that I'm perfect, but the truth is, I'm just a regular old girl who manages a band. Nothing more."

"That's right!" Corey joined in. "Hey Mr. Perfect Pants! Knock, knock!"

"Who's there?"

"Little old lady!"

"Little old lady who?"

"Exactly! Who's with me?"

The other three band members cheered. Kelsey and Alyssa blew their horns and new instruments for the band popped out of them. Kin got an accordion, Laney got a tuba, and Kon got a bass drum. Corey put on a Swiss hat and started to sing.

_Oh, there's nothing like a perfect thing_

_To make me perfect when I sing_

_A perfect diamond in a ring_

_A perfect chocolate anything_

_Perfect is as perfect does_

_And perfect ain't what perfect was_

_And now what's got us all a buzz_

_Is no more perfection because_

_Nothing is perfect_

_Don't try to make it so_

_You wrecked our Swiss party_

_And now you've got to gooooooo!_

_Yodel break!_

_Yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel-le-he-hoo!_

_Yodel-yodel-le-he-hoo!_

The helmet grabbed its head in confusion.

_Yodel-yodel-le-he-hoo!_

_Yodel-yodel-le-he-hoo!_

"Cannot correct yodeling…" the helmet said.

_Yodel-yodel-le-he-hoo!_

_Yodel-yodel-le-he-hoo!_

_Yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel_

_Yodel-le-he-hoo!_

_Yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel-yodel_

_Yodel-le-he-hoo!_

The robot released Jackie from its claw and started malfunctioning. Kin caught Jackie in his arms and blushed.

"Impossible! Correction failed! Countdown to massive self-destruct has begun!" a timer appeared on the helmet. "Three…two…one…"

The helmet screen cracked.

"Seriously? That's it?" Laney was skeptical.

**BOOM!**

Laney's hair was frizzled from the explosion.

"There we go!"

The crowd cheered at the band's song as Jackie stood up.

"Wow great song guys! Thanks for saving me!"

Kin blushed some more. "Oh well you know, I have to take responsibility for my creations don't I?"

Mayor Swellow came out of hiding.

"Gotta say, that singing's bad, but you beat the robot so we're all glad! How would you like to be honorary Swiss folk?"

"No thanks Mayor Swellow." Corey's voice was no longer cracking. A spotlight shined on him. "Being too perfect is unnatural. Like a robot helmet's voice in your brain! We can't just let our headwear control us! If your hat doesn't like the way you live, that's your hat's problem! You gotta be you, flaws and all."

"Yodel-le-he-hoo!" Kon called. "Hey Corey! You forgot one thing!"

Kon blew the alpine horn and Corey's beanie came out of it. Corey caught the beanie and put it back on his head.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

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**Still working on chapters so hold off on suggestions. That is all. See you tomorrow!**


	29. Sealed with a Kiss

**I cannot believe it. 'Meeting Grojband' has just reached 100 reviews! I honestly did not believe that I was going to get this much support in less than 30 chapters. You guys are amazing. So I just wanted to say: Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work. It means a lot to me and I don't know where I would be without you. So this next chapter is an original scenario requested by a guest reviewer and he/she said:**

**"I might have an idea for an original story. Have you ever seen the episode on Phineas and Ferb where Isabella writes Phineas a love letter and then tries to get it back. Maybe Kin could write Jackie a love letter and then has to get it back."**

**First let me just say that I do not watch Phineas and Ferb and I wasn't sure how to format this chapter until I actually watched the episode. Surprisingly, it was very well written and the song was incredible. I knew right then that I had to use it in this new chapter. So enjoy! **

**(Disclaimer: I do not own the song)**

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**Chapter 29**

**Sealed with a Kiss**

It was Tuesday morning and Grojband was in their garage practicing their music. Well, not all of them were practicing actually.

"Kin! What are you doing over there?" Corey looked toward Kin who was sitting on the couch holding a pencil. "C'mon! Quit fooling around!"

Kin put his pencil behind his ear. "I'm not fooling around! I'm doing something very important!"

"What could possibly be more important than helping out your own band?"

"I'm writing a letter to Jackie." Kin held up the piece of paper he had on the table. "I'm finally gonna tell her how I feel about her."

Kon scoffed. "That's what you said a week ago. And you still haven't told her."

"Yeah Kin. The past few times you tried to tell Jackie were utter failures." Laney added.

"For your information, those 'failures' were not my fault."

Three weeks ago, the band was rehearsing for a gig and as always, Jackie was there to manage everything. Jackie was sitting in her chair writing things down on her clipboard. The others had gone to take a break. Kin had realized that it was a golden opportunity to tell Jackie his feelings. He slowly walked up to where she was sitting and cleared his throat.

"Um…hi Jackie."

"Hey Kin. What's up?"

"Well, um…listen. There's something I have to tell you."

Jackie put down her clipboard and faced her keyboardist. A fly had entered the garage from an open window.

"See, since the day we met, which I guess wasn't more than a few months ago...I've wanted to tell you something important. I lo-"

That's when the fly flew straight into Kin's open mouth and down his throat. Kin started gagging and coughing. He clutched his throat trying to remove whatever was stuck in his throat. He then fainted and the fly came out of his mouth.

Two weeks ago, Kin tried to tell Jackie again. He had asked Jackie to come with him for a walk around Tranquil Town Park. He was planning on telling her right when they got there.

"Jackie? Can I tell you something?"

"Of course Kin. Tell me anything."

Kin was too busy trying to figure out what to say to see that someone left a skateboard on the sidewalk.

"Well, you see, this is kind of embarrassing but I wanted to tell you that I-whoa!" Kin stepped on the skateboard and went flying down the sidewalk. On the way he hit a rock, flew off the skateboard and landed in a trash can. He stood up from the fall and spat out a banana peel in his mouth.

One week ago, Kin was sure he could do it. He went into Jackie's room where she was doing some homework for school. He checked to make sure there weren't any flies or skateboards around and then made his way toward Jackie's desk.

"Um…Jackie?"

Jackie turned around.

"Oh hey Kin! Did you need something?"

Kin blushed deep red. "Yeah, I have to tell you something. The same thing I wanted to tell you for the last couple of weeks."

Kon was outside the door listening in. He had a plan to humiliate Kin so Jackie wouldn't love him and he (Kon) wouldn't be ignored anymore. The drummer reached into his pocket and pulled out a lizard he found in the park one day. He slowly opened the door to Jackie's room so the lizard could get inside. The lizard made its way toward Kin, crawled up his leg, and went into his pants.

"Jackie, I just want you to know that I-YYYOOOWWW!"

The lizard had bitten Kin on the rear. The kid in glasses started running around screaming, making a mess in Jackie's room. Kon pulled out his phone and filmed the whole thing.

Back in the present, Kon was watching the video on his phone and laughing.

"I still have no idea how that lizard even got in the house!" Kin recalled. "Anyway, this time I'm not going to mess up! Because this time instead of telling Jackie my feelings verbally, I'm going to write them down in a letter! Genius, huh? That way I can just give it to her so she can read it and I won't be humiliated in the slightest way!"

"Except for the fact that you're telling her you're in love with her." Kon said.

Laney punched him in the arm.

"Ow!"

"So, what do you have so far Kin?" Corey asked.

"Glad you asked!" Kin picked up the letter and started reading it. "'Dear Jackie, you are the prettiest girl I've ever met. Since the day I met you, I've been too scared to tell you how I really feel. So now I'm going to tell you exactly what I think about you…I love you! I love smelling your hair, I love holding your hands, I love touching your face, I love looking at your eyes, and I really, really love it when you put your arm around me or poke my nose or pat my cheek! Don't you understand? I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU! Hope you liked the letter. Love, Kin.' Well, what do you guys think?"

The others had uneasy looks on their faces. Kin frowned and sighed.

"I may as well forget about it." He put the letter back on the table next to another sheet of paper. "I just don't know how to tell her in a way that's not totally embarrassing."

Jackie entered the garage carrying her backpack. She started rushing around trying to find something. She ran past the table causing both pieces of paper to fall to the floor.

"Where is it? Where is it?"

"Whatcha lookin' for Jacks?" Corey asked the manager.

"Hey Corey. Have you seen my math homework anywhere? I can't find it and I'm gonna be late for school!"

She then spotted a piece of paper on the floor and picked it up.

"Oh! There it is! See you guys in a couple of hours! Bye!"

Kin stood up. "Jackie wait! I-"

But she was in too much of a hurry to listen and ran out the door. Kin sighed and sat back down.

"I'm never gonna do it. I guess a guy like me is too dorky to be in love."

Corey picked up the remaining paper from the floor.

"Cheer up dude! You just need to make a few revisions to your letter and everything will be fine!"

The singer looked down at the paper but was very confused by what he saw.

"Uh, when did you add a bunch of fractions to this thing?"

"I didn't. Why?" Kin was confused himself.

Corey handed the paper he was holding to Kin.

"Cause that's all that's on there now."

Kin gasped horrifically.

"Oh no! Oh no! This is bad! Really bad!"

"What?" Laney asked.

"Guys, this isn't my letter! It's Jackie's math homework! Do you realize what this means?!"

"She's gonna fail math?" Kon guessed.

"No! It means that the paper she has right now is my letter! And when she takes it out thinking it's her math homework, she's gonna read it!"

"Aw c'mon." Laney shrugged. "It can't be that bad."

"It is that bad!" Kin panicked. "Don't you remember what was in that thing?!"

"Oh yeah…"

"Dude, chill out!" Corey put an arm around his friend. "It's no big deal. Jackie always puts her math homework in her locker at the beginning of the day. We'll just go to her school, get the letter from her locker, and head back! Easy! Let's head to Jackie's school!"

**TO THE SCHOOL TRANSITION!**

The four walked up to the front door of the building.

"Core, we've only been to Jackie's school a few times." Laney reminded the blue-haired kid. "Do you even remember which locker is hers?"

"No. But it can't be too hard to find it!" Corey opened the door and he and the others stepped inside.

When they entered the hallways, they were all shocked to see what looked like millions of lockers everywhere. The worst part was that it was impossible to distinguish one locker from another.

"Okay…so this may take a while." Corey noted.

The band pulled out their instruments and started playing a song.

_Kin: High school students please help me out_

_I wrote a girl a letter now I'm filled with doubt_

_It was a sentimental notion_

_To spell out my emotion that way_

_Before I have a heart attack_

_I need my letter back_

_I need a retraction_

_A full scale redaction_

_At least if I could edit it and soften the tone_

_I can't believe it_

_I have to retrieve it_

_Don't say my opportunity is already blown_

_Corey/Laney/Kon: Already blown!_

_Kin: Oh, why did I have to sign my name?_

_I don't wanna be forever stamped in shame_

_I have to move to Belgium_

_And wear a really bad toupee_

_So before I have a heart attack_

_Corey/Laney/Kon: He needs his letter back_

_Kin: I have to find it *to Jack Matterson* move it Jack!_

_Corey/Laney/Kon: He needs his letter back_

_Kin: It's hard to overstate this fact_

_I need my letter back!_

The band stood still as the song ended. After a few seconds, Laney spoke.

"We should probably stop singing and actually start looking for Jackie's locker."

The others nodded.

"Yeah…"

"That might be a good idea…"

"Sure…"

Kin gave each one of his friends a special pick he created to open locks.

"Okay, Corey, you and Laney start looking through the lockers in the east hallway. Kon, you look through the west hallway, and I'll take the main halls. Go!"

They all split up and started using the pick to get into the lockers. Even though all of the lockers looked the same on the outside, Grojband knew that Jackie's locker had to be the one with pictures of them inside of it. Once they found that one, they found the letter. After about an hour of searching, however, none of them found Jackie's locker and were on the urge of giving up.

"Kin, we've checked almost every locker in the school." Laney said tiredly. "Jackie's locker isn't any of them."

"Maybe we should just forget about it and go home." Corey decided. "After all, there is a chance she might not find the letter."

"That's a chance I'm not willing to take Corey!" Kin stated. "Jackie's never gonna talk to me again if she reads all that embarrassing stuff! We have to keep looking before-"

The school bell rang and all of the students entered the hallway to get things from their lockers. Grojband quickly hid in the boys' bathroom. One of the boys took notice of Laney.

"Nice hair clip dude. What are you some kind of girl?"

Laney growled in annoyance. The four rockers peeked out of the door and spotted Jackie walking to her locker with Kelsey and Alyssa.

"There she is!" Kin pointed to the brunette.

"So how does Corey keep his hair like that?" Kelsey asked Jackie excitedly.

"Yeah, and where does he shop for his clothes?" Alyssa joined in.

"Girls, I already told you I don't know everything there is to know about Grojband. Some things are secrets." Jackie opened up her locker and took out the paper she had grabbed earlier that morning. "Wait a second, this isn't my math homework. In fact, it looks like some kind of letter!"

"Oh no! I'm doomed!" Kin covered his eyes. "My relationship with Jackie is over!"

"Not if I have anything to say about!" Kon reached into his pocket and pulled out the same lizard he used to embarrass his brother. Kin recognized it right away and glared.

"So that's where that lizard came from…"

Kon put the lizard outside the bathroom door.

"Go get em Chewy!"

Kelsey and Alyssa squealed.

"Read it! Read it!" they begged.

"Okay, okay!" Jackie giggled, opening up the paper. "Let's see, Dear Jackie…"

Before she could read anymore, Chewy jumped up from the floor, snatched the paper and ate it. Kelsey and Alyssa screamed in terror and ran away. Jackie picked up the reptile from the floor.

"Aww…hey there little guy. Where'd you come from?"

"Jackie!"

Jackie looked up and saw her band coming toward her.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

Kin blushed. "Um, well, you see we were uh…"

"We wanted to give you your math homework!" Kon finished handing Jackie her homework. "You left it in the garage this morning."

Jackie smiled. "Aw, thanks! You guys are the best!"

"Oh, it was all Kin's idea." Corey said.

"It was?" Kin was pushed toward Jackie. "Oh yeah! It totally was…yeah…"

"Anyway Kin, I've been meaning to ask you. What have you been wanting to tell me for the past few weeks?"

"Oh that? Well um…see, the thing is…uh…well…I…I…um…"

The others watched in anticipation.

"I…I…I'm happy to have you for a manger."

"Aw Kin, that's so sweet." Jackie hugged the boy in glasses. "I'm happy to be your manager."

Kin smiled and hugged back. Just then, the bell rang again and Jackie gasped.

"I gotta go! I'll see you all at home later!"

The teenage girl ran off and Kin sighed happily.

"Dude! What was that?" Corey complained. "You totally had the chance just now!"

Kin turned to his bandmates.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that, this whole time I was trying to get back a love letter that I shouldn't have even written in the first place. I think now I realize that I'm just not ready to tell Jackie how I feel yet."

"So, are you ever gonna tell her?" Kon asked.

"Oh, maybe someday. By the way Kon, thanks for the save back there. If it wasn't for you, Jackie would have known the truth."

"No problem bro. It's what I'm here for."

"Then again, if it wasn't for you, I would have told Jackie the truth myself last week!"

Kon giggled. "You looked so hilarious when Chewy bit your butt. Right Chewy?"

Chewy crawled into Kon's hand and he petted him.

"Wanna hold him?" Kon offered the lizard to Kin and he screamed in terror and ran away.

Corey just shrugged. "Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**Man, I don't know why I torture Kin so much in this fanfic. I can't stand to see the little guy in pain like that but I guess it just makes a good plot development. I should have another chapter out tomorrow. Bye!**


	30. Eternal Slumber

**Yay! Chapter 30 is finally out! I didn't think I would get this far. Anyway, this is another original chapter based on a request from guest reviewer, AA:**

**"What if Laney and Jackie have a sleepover and the girls from the Newmans show up and they all have a sleepover. Corey, Kin and Kon have a boy's night and Larry and Jack show up and join boy's night. The boys decide to spy on the girls and when the girls catch them spying they attack them with pillows and fists. Just a thought." **

**Let me just say that I had a lot of fun writing this one. Mostly because of the growing relationships. Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 30**

**Eternal Slumber**

Corey strummed the final chord on his guitar, ending the song he and his band had been rehearsing. Jackie was sitting across from them clapping her hands.

"Nice job you guys!"

"Thanks Jacks! It's all in how you lead!" Corey bragged while Laney rolled her eyes.

Jackie stood up. "Well, great rehearsal guys! I'll see you tomorrow!"

She was about to leave until Corey stopped her.

"Wait! We still have like four more songs to go through!"

"I know. Sorry I can't stay to listen to them. I have…'things' to do." Jackie looked over at Laney and winked.

Laney winked back. "Yeah guys. I actually have some 'things' to do too. So…yeah, I'll see you later."

Laney followed Jackie out of the garage leaving the three boys by themselves.

"I wonder what those two are up to…" Corey scratched his head.

"This is the third time this week they cut rehearsal short because they had 'things' to do." Kin recalled. "Something is definitely going on."

Kon gasped. "What if they're discussing their plans for world domination?!"

"Kon what are you talking about?" Kin asked.

"They're girls, dude! Girls are like the most hard-to-figure-out creatures in the universe! They probably came from some faraway planet and at this very moment are planning on taking over the world by using their mind-controlling powers! Everyone on Earth will soon submit to their commands!"

Corey and Kin exchanged worried looks.

"He watches a lot of sci-fi movies doesn't he?" Corey guessed.

"Yep." Kin nodded.

"But what if it really is true?!" Kon bit his nails.

"Well, there's only way to find out! C'mon guys! Let's go see what those girls are really up to!"

**BOYS SHOULDN'T SPY ON GIRLS!**

Corey, Kin, and Kon peeked into Jackie's doorway. They saw the two girls sitting on Jackie's bed and giggling.

"They're communicating with some kind of secret code!" Kon observed. "How are we supposed to translate what they're saying?"

"Dude, it's not a code. It's called giggling." Kin explained. "Girls do it when they talk about secret stuff."

Kon gasped. "Oh no! It's all coming true! I can't watch!"

"So, did you send the invites to Kelsey, Alyssa, and Stephanie?" Laney whispered to Jackie.

Jackie nodded. "Yep! They should all be here tonight!"

"This is gonna be the best slumber party in history!"

The two of them high-fived and cheered.

Kon still had his eyes covered.

"Is it over?"

"Guys! Don't you get it?! Jacks and Lanes are having a slumber party! That means they're going to have a bunch of girls come over to spend the night and do girl stuff like makeovers, and truth or dare, and never go to sleep! Ever!"

"So what?" Kin asked.

"So obviously they haven't told us about it because we're not girls!"

"Thank goodness…" Kon muttered under his breath.

"And since the girls are doing their own thing tonight, you know what that means…"

Kin and Kon gasped excitedly and they all shouted at the same time.

"GUY'S NIGHT OUT!"

Laney and Jackie heard the three of them from inside Jackie's room.

"What was that?" Jackie wondered.

Laney stood up from the bed and went to the door to see what was going on outside. Corey heard her coming.

"Quick! Hide!"

The boys ran into a hall closet. When Laney stuck her head out the window, she was surprised to see that no one was there. She shrugged and went back into the room. Corey, Kin, and Kon were cramped up in the hall closet.

"Guy's night out…" they cheered quietly.

Meanwhile, in another part of town, the Newmans had just finished rehearsing their songs in Jack's garage. Carrie, Kim, and Konnie were sitting together in the garage. Jack and Larry had gone off to do their own 'things'.

"Man, Jack and Larry have been acting really weird lately." Kim told her twin sister. "Wonder what's going on?"

"They're boys Kim! Who knows what goes on in their heads? Maybe they're really strange alien monsters from a different galaxy!" Konnie worried. "They could be talking about how to make us their slaves when they take over our world!"

Kim just shook her head. "Sis, you have got to stop watching those afternoon television specials."

"Girls, relax." Carrie said strumming her guitar. "Jack and Lar are just having a guy's night tonight. It's no big deal."

"Ha! That's probably what they want you think Carrie!" Konnie replied.

"But wait, if Jack and Larry are going out for the night, what are we gonna do?" Kim asked the band leader.

Carrie put down her guitar. "Eh, I'm sure we'll find something to do."

Just then, the doorbell rang and the girls got up to see who was there. When they opened the front door, they saw a postal worker holding three letters.

"Delivery for…" the postal worker adjusted his glasses. "Kelsey, Alyssa, and Stephanie?"

"Who?" Carrie raised an eyebrow.

"I was told to deliver these invitations to those three recipients."

"Look bub, you got the wrong house so why don't you just get out of-" Carrie stopped. "Wait a minute. What kind of invitation?"

"All it says here is 'Top Secret: Open to Read'"

Carrie snatched the letters out of the mail carrier's hands.

"Gimme!" the blue-haired girl then slammed the door.

"…Uh…have a nice day?"

Kim and Konnie met up with the lead singer.

"What is it Carrie?" Kim jumped up and down excitedly.

"Who's it from? Who's it from?" Konnie chimed in.

Carrie handed the twins two of the letters and kept one for herself. She tore open the envelope and opened up the invitation, reading it aloud.

"'You're invited to our super-secret, girls-only slumber party tonight! Meet us at the following address at 6 o' clock sharp. No RSVP is necessary.'"

"Wow! Any idea who's hosting it Care?" Konnie asked.

"No idea. But it's not like we have anything better to do, right girls? I say we go to that party! Tonight!"

Kim read the envelope.

"But Carrie, these envelopes weren't addressed to us. What if whoever is throwing this party doesn't want us there?"

Carrie just scoffed. "C'mon Kim! We're the Newmans! The greatest band in all of existence! Who wouldn't want us to be at a slumber party?"

That night, Jackie and Laney were finishing setting up for their slumber party. The boys had already left.

"Well, that should do it!" Jackie declared. "Now all that's left to do is to wait for the guests to-"

The doorbell rang.

"-arrive?"

"Whoa…those girls are fast." Laney noted.

The two girls came to the door and opened it. They gasped when they saw who was on the stoop.

"The Newmans?!"

Carrie and the twins gasped as well.

"Jackie Matthews and Laney Penn?!"

"What are you doing here?" Jackie said crossly.

"Uh, what do you think Matthews?" Carrie held out the invitation. "We're here for the slumber party!"

"How'd you get ahold of those invitations?"

"Does it matter? We're here now and we don't have anything else to do so we're staying!" Carrie snapped her fingers and Kim and Konnie followed her inside the house. "Might as well see how lame this sleep over is!"

The three of them stepped into the kitchen where some snacks were set out.

"Well, at least the food looks decent." Carrie commented.

Konnie picked up a bowl full of cheese curls and poured the entire thing into her mouth.

Laney whispered to Jackie.

"Jacks, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't think there's anything we can do. We'll just have to put up with them. Good thing it's only for a night…"

Carrie snapped her fingers again.

"Hey Matthews! Hurry up and start the makeovers! Also, we're gonna need more snacks."

Konnie had just finished the last bowl of snacks and belched loudly.

Jackie and Laney groaned as they went to lay out more snacks.

"Man, whatever Corey and the twins are doing, it sure has to be better than what we're doing…" Laney said.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Speaking of Corey and the twins, they had just arrived at a local convenience store where they were going to spend their "guy's night". The three of them stepped through the sliding doors and gazed at how shiny the place looked. There were dozens of aisles and each one was filled with any kind of junk food imaginable. The cashier up front was fast asleep and the boys knew what that meant.

"CONVENIENCE STORE RAID!" they all chanted.

They immediately started going wild, eating everything in sight. Corey stuffed a bunch of pork rinds into his mouth, Kin started chewing an enormous amount of bubble gum, and Kon ate out of a nacho cheese dispenser. When Corey finished off his last candy bar, something in the store caught his eye.

"Guys! Look!" Corey pointed ahead of him and the twins saw it too.

"Slushy machine…" they drooled.

Kin and Kon stared at the many different cup sizes the store offered.

"Whoa…which one should we pick Corey?" Kin asked.

"Who needs cups? I'll show you how one really drinks one of these." Corey stepped over to the machine and grabbed one of the levers. He opened his mouth about to indulge on the sweet frozen taste of cherry, until somebody shoved him away.

"Beat it loser!"

Corey fell toward the ground.

"Hey!" he stood up and faced the person who pushed him. "What's the big idea?"

That's when Corey saw the person's face and the two of them gasped.

"Corey Riffin?!"

"Jack Matterson?!"

"What are you doing here?"

Larry walked over next to Jack.

"Get lost!" Jack ordered. "This is supposed to be Larry and I's night out, and we don't need you copycats spoiling our fun!"

"Copycats?!" Corey repeated. "You're the ones who are copying us!"

Kin and Kon nodded.

"The Newmans do not copy other bands! Especially not a band that's as lame as yours!"

Kin stepped up. "You're right. You're not copycats. After all, Jackie is sweet, pretty, and is the awesomest manager ever! You're just a nasty jerk who only cares about himself!"

"Oh yeah? Well, in that case, maybe Grojband isn't ripping off the Newmans either! Kim is super cool and super smart and you're just a wimpy nerd!" Jack shoved Kin to the ground. "So unless you want things to get ugly, I suggest you leave! Right now! C'mon Larry, you pull down the lever while I stand under it."

"Jack, isn't this technically stealing? I mean, won't we get into big trouble if we get caught eating this stuff without paying for it?"

"Quit being a wimp Larry. No wonder Carrie thinks you're a girl."

Larry sighed and pulled down the lever to the slushy machine. Jack opened his mouth and drank from it. Corey folded his arms and grumped. There was no way he was going to let some of his band's worst rivals boss them around so he pushed them away from the slushy machine. He grabbed the lever and started drinking. Jack stood back up and shoved Corey. Corey then pounced on top of his manager's gender opposite and the two started fighting for real. Kin, Kon, and Larry joined in and soon they were all lying on the floor looking beat up. The five of them panted as they got back up.

Corey and Jack pulled down the lever and learned that the machine was empty. The two glared at each other.

"Now look what you've done Riffin!" Jack yelled.

"What I've done?! It would still have a little bit left if you and that red-headed girl didn't hog the machine!"

"Larry's a guy, you moron! Why do I have to tell everybody that? Speaking of which, where's Matthews and that bass-playing dude?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Actually, now that I think about it, I don't care to know."

"Fine! They're having a sleep over back at Jackie's house. Are you happy now?"

Jack just stood silent.

"…Well?" Corey said. "Aren't you going to say something? What's your problem?"

"It's just that…Carrie and the twins said that they were going to some slumber party tonight. They never said who was hosting it, but do you think that they could…"

Corey scoffed. "Don't be dumb Matterson! Jacks and Lanes would never invite those guys to any nightly event!"

"Yeah, and they wouldn't choose to go to anything hosted by your stupid manager and ugly bassist."

There was a slight pause before both boys said:

"…Would they?"

"Well, it could be…" Kin mumbled.

"Yeah, maybe they're planning on being friends or something…" Kon imagined the situation.

After a few more seconds of silence, Corey and Jack screamed in terror.

"We can't let that happen!" Corey cried. "If the girls in your band become friends with the girls in our band, it'll totally ruin our rivalry!"

"For once, you may be onto something Riffin!" Jack agreed. "We need to put a stop to this right now! Let's go boys!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Corey interrupted the brown-haired boy. "Are you saying that we need to work together?"

Jack chuckled. "Well, Larry and I can't expect you and those knucklehead twins to do this on your own now can we? And besides, it's only until the girls come to their senses and stop hanging around each other."

Corey sighed. "Fine. But since we're going to our house, we make the rules."

"Ugh…fine. So what are we going to do?"

"First, we should spy on those girls just to see if they're really getting alone together. If they aren't, then we have nothing to worry about. If they are, then we make em start a fight! Easy! But first, we'll need some disguises…"

**DISGUISES ARE REALLY COOL!**

The girls had just finished doing makeovers in the living room. Jackie and Laney handed their "guests" a couple of mirrors.

"So, what do you think?" Jackie asked.

Carrie looked in her own mirror.

"Ew! This looks like the kind of makeup a clown would wear!"

"Gee, I kind of like mine…" Kim commented.

"Me too!" Konnie giggled.

Carrie gave them both a scowl and they smiled sheepishly. She tossed her mirror behind her, breaking it.

"Well, you'd better have an awesome party game to make up for those fake-overs."

"Okay fine." Jackie sat down. "We'll play 'truth or dare'. How does that sound?"

Carrie shrugged. "I guess it'll do."

Konnie raised her hand. "Ooh! Ooh! Can I go first?! Pick me! Pick me!"

Laney groaned. "All right! Just go!"

"Kim? Truth or dare?" Konnie asked her sister.

"Truth!"

"Who's your biggest crush?"

"Konnie, you already know that I'm head-over-heels in love with Jack!" the girl in glasses took a picture frame from out of her backpack. Jack's picture was in the center. "He's got the cutest smile, the cutest hair, and whenever he says my name, he has the cutest tone of voice!"

Kim kissed the picture and sighed happily. Jackie whispered to Laney.

"Hey, Laney? I just thought about something. If Kim is the exact gender opposite of Kin, and Kim has a crush on my gender opposite, Jack, then does that mean that Kin-"

Laney covered Jackie's mouth and acted quickly.

"Uh…my turn! Carrie, truth or dare?"

"Dare, I guess."

"I dare you to take off your beanie!"

Carrie blushed deeply. She never took her beanie off in fear of what others would think of her hair.

"Um, is it too late to change my answer?"

"Yep! So are you gonna do it or not?" Laney questioned.

"Uh…well…"

Meanwhile, outside, the boys had just arrived, ready to put their plan into action. Each one of them was wearing a black ski mask covering their faces.

"When you said that we were gonna wear disguises, I thought it would be something cooler than just these!" Jack complained to Corey.

"Shh! You want to get caught?" Corey signaled to Kin and Kon. "C'mon! Let's move out!"

Kin and Kon followed the blue-haired front man and Jack and Larry did the same. The five of them crawled to the window and saw the girls sitting in a circle on the floor.

"C'mon Carrie! You have to do it!" Kim insisted. "It's in the rules!"

"Okay, I'll do it!" Carrie took a deep breath and she slowly removed the beanie from her head. The other four sat still in shock. None of them had ever seen what Carrie's hair looked like without her beanie. Not even the other members of her band! Larry blushed when he saw Carrie's real hair. He always thought that her hair was beautiful but with her hat off, she looked even more beautiful.

"Wow…" he sighed and hearts filled his eyes. "She looks amazing…"

Corey gagged. "You're even worse than Kin…"

Kin hugged his personal picture of Jackie to his heart and giggled.

"Hey Larry!" Jack muttered quietly. "I just realized something. If that creepy kid in glasses is crazy about Matthews, would that mean Kim is-"

"Uh…don't be ridiculous Jack! Kim would never think of you that way…" Larry lied in order to keep his promise to Kim about making sure Jack didn't find out about her feelings.

Carrie put her beanie back on and sat back down.

"Fine! If that's how we're going to play…Penn! Truth or dare?"

"Uh…truth?"

"Who's _your_ biggest crush?"

Laney had a nervous look on her face. She started sweating rapidly.

"Uh…well…um…"

Corey leaned his ear toward the glass window so he could listen.

"Hey!" Jack shouted. "I can't see what they're doing!"

"Then find your own window!"

Jack pushed the blue-haired boy toward the ground.

"You find your own window!"

Corey stood back up. "It's our house! So you find your own window!" He gave Jack a shove.

"Did you hear something?" Carrie asked.

"You're asking for it now Riffin!"

"Ha! What are you gonna do? Beat my brains in?"

"For that, you would have to have brains in your head!"

"All right, that's it!" Corey looked over at Kin and Kon. "Grojband! ATTACK!"

Corey and the twins pounced on top of their enemies and crashed through the window. The boys hit the living room floor, punching and kicking each other. The girls looked over at them with shocked looks on their faces. The boys then stopped fighting and glanced at their gender opposites.

"Uh…evening?" Corey smiled sheepishly.

"…BURGLARS!" Konnie screamed.

"Now look what you've done!" Jack said to Corey. "I told you you had no brains!"

Carrie grabbed a pillow from the couch.

"Let's get em girls!"

"For once, that's a good idea!" Laney jumped up high and aimed her foot towards Corey. With one kick, she knocked the beanie-wearing kid to the ground.

Larry cowered in fear as Carrie repeatedly whacked him with her pillow.

"Please! I'm too young to die!" he pleaded.

Kim used her fists to attack Jack and punched him hard in the stomach.

Konnie let out a battle cry before tackling Kon with her pillow.

Jackie held Kin down with her foot and pinned his arms against his back. Kin's eyes watered in pain.

"She's so strong...what a woman!"

"All right burglar!" Laney grabbed onto Corey's mask. "Time to show your real face!"

The bassist yanked off the ski mask and gasped when she saw the "burglar's" true identity.

"Corey?!"

Corey smiled guiltily.

Carrie looked down at a shivering Larry and tore off his mask.

"Larry?!"

Kim had Jack pinned against the wall. She stood on her tiptoes in order to grab his mask.

"Jack?!"

Konnie and Jackie removed the masks on Kin and Kon and the boys knew they were busted.

"You guys have some serious explaining to do!" Jackie scolded.

Corey chuckled. "Oh yeah, well…I…er…we…"

"Were you spying on us?" Laney gave Corey a suspicious glance.

"Spying…that's such a harsh word…how about instead we say…peeping through the window to check up on you girls and see how your slumber party was…going…"

"So…spying!" Laney concluded.

"Pretty much."

"Core! How could you?" Jackie said.

"Well because…uh…because…" Corey sighed. "We were afraid that you and the Newmans were becoming…friends…"

Jackie was in disbelief. "Friends? With the Newmans?"

"Oh don't act like it's not true Matthews!" Jack pointed a finger at his enemy. "You were all totally mingling back there! We saw the whole thing! Carrie, as your manager, I cannot allow you, Kim, or Konnie to be friends with those lunatics!"

"Jack, when it comes to those two, you have nothing to worry about." Carrie reassured the teenage boy. "In fact, that was absolutely the worst slumber party I've ever been to! And let's face it, who wants to acquaint themselves with someone who can't even throw a decent sleep over? C'mon Newmans! Let's bail!"

Jack, Larry, Kim, and Konnie followed Carrie out the front door and they headed back to Jack's house.

"Hey Carrie?" Kim whispered. "Did you really mean what you said about the sleep over?"

"Yeah, I thought it was really fun!" Konnie added.

Carrie smiled a little.

"Okay, so maybe I did like it. But that doesn't matter girls. A rivalry is a rivalry after all."

Jackie shut the door to her house and sighed with relief. She was happy to be rid of all of her enemies. She and Laney looked back at the living room and it was a disaster area.

"Well gang, looks like Grojband and the Newmans are enemies once again!" Corey declared, giving Kin and Kon high-fives. "C'mon! We still got half the night left to celebrate our victory!"

The three of them were about to leave but Jackie and Laney blocked their path.

"And where do you think you're going?" Jackie crossed her arms.

"We still have one more party game to play." Laney held up a broom.

Soon, the girls had Corey, Kin, and Kon cleaning up the mess they made in the living room. All three of them had dustpans and were sweeping up all of the glass from the broken window.

Jackie and Laney stood back smiling.

"I guess this slumber party wasn't a total waste after all." Jackie decided.

"Yeah, we should do this more often!" Laney agreed.

The two of them did their special handshake.

"GIRL POWER!" they both giggled and walked away.

"Oh man…" Kon started worrying. "Their evil plan to take over the world is still in play! Isn't it? Oh, why are girls so difficult to read?!"

"A lot of things are difficult to read Kon." A spotlight shined on Corey. "Like road signs…or instruction manuals…or gigantic books with really tiny print that you can't see unless you have a microscope! But the truth is, girls aren't any of those things. Girls are just…girls. They're not that different from us guys anyway. Other than the fact that they wear a ton of makeup. Still, it doesn't matter whether you're a guy or a girl. What really matters is how you think of yourself as a person."

"So…they're not aliens?" Kon said.

"No." Kin pulled out his picture of Jackie. "But one of them sends my heart into orbit!" he giggled and clutched the picture to his heart.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Now that I think about it, I think this chapter is the first chapter without a song (not counting the three in the beginning). Because of that I wasn't planning on giving Corey an ending monologue but it seemed like the perfect chapter to put one in so I did. Not sure when I'll get the next one up but hopefully sometime this week. See you then!**


	31. Blast from the Past

**At last! It's the chapter that all of you (or at least some) have been waiting for. Because it's based on the episode "Ahead Of Our Own Tone" which was requested by guest reviewer AA. I was really excited about writing this one because I wanted to add a back-story as to why Kin REALLY grew his beard. To be honest, I really hated Kin with a beard, it just made him look really ugly. He's so much cuter without one which is why I incorporated my feelings about it in this chapter. Please enjoy (sorry for the generic title)!**

* * *

**Chapter 31**

**Blast from the Past**

Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kon were all hanging out in the garage. Kin had gone off somewhere and they were waiting for him to return so they could resume their rehearsal. He had been gone for a while and Jackie was starting to get worried. And impatient.

"Ugh, where is Kin? We have to go on with rehearsal! Those keys aren't gonna play themselves!"

Just then, Kin entered the garage looking very excited.

"There you are!" Jackie exclaimed. "Where have you been?"

"First let me ask you this question my good lady." Kin looked toward the others. "What's the first word that comes to mind when I say the word 'picking'?"

"Butt?" Kon guessed.

"Nose?" Corey chimed in.

"I'm going with nose." Laney decided.

"Same." Jackie agreed.

"Feast your eyes on the ultimate picking!" Kin announced.

Jackie, Corey, and Laney cringed in disgust while Kon gasped excitedly.

"In junk sale finds!" Kin finished.

"Aww…" Kon whined.

"Phew!" the others went.

The keyboardist pulled out an old record album.

"Check it out!"

Kon gazed at the cover of the album.

"No way! An ultra-rare album from Europe's proto-electronica band, Der-Keizer Zap?! But only 200 were ever made!"

Kon reached for the record but Kin pulled it away.

"And only one was ever sold!" Kin pointed to the album. "This one!"

"What are ya waitin' for bro? Drop del beat!"

Kin put the record onto a record player and a techno song started playing. The twins started doing the most ridiculous dance.

"So, I don't understand." Jackie said. "What's the big deal about this Del Skyser…whatever it's called."

"Der-Keizer Zap was the cutting edge of the electronic music revolution!" Kin explained.

"Until their computer blew itself up!" Kon added.

"Smart computer." Laney noted.

"Those hombres were musical geniuses! Way ahead of their time!" Kin continued dancing.

Corey scratched his chin.

"Hmm…guys we should totally be ahead of our time too!"

"By creating a new and innovative sound?" Laney guessed.

"Pfft! That'll never work! We'll just go one year into the future to see what music's like, then come back to unleash the trend before anyone else!"

"You know, that might actually work!" Jackie cried. "Especially since Kin is a genius and has already made a time machine!"

Kin heard everything Corey and Jackie had said and turned off the record player.

"Uh, Jackie? Remember what happened the last time we used my time machine?"

The band recalled a few weeks ago when Kin had just finished building his time machine. He had decided to test it by going back in time. When he returned, the others were waiting for him.

"One million BC and back again without messing up the future one single bit!" he held up a plant that grew lemons. "Who's in for victory lemonade?"

Jackie burst into a fit of laughter. She wrapped an arm around Kin.

"Oh! Kin! Hee, hee! You say the funniest things! Lem…on…ade! Ha, ha!"

Kin gasped and looked at the plant he had taken from the dinosaur period.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

"You and that kooky lemonade!" Present Corey made air quotations on the last word. "If I didn't think it would work, would I be willing to risk our lives on it?"

The front man pushed the time machine into the garage. Kin hugged his creation.

"Hello old friend…are you ready for another mistake?"

Jackie saw this.

"So…this is that 'special someone' you keep talking about?" she giggled.

Hearts popped out of Kin.

"Um…sure Jackie…that's…right…"

Kin walked over to Kon looking sad.

"Man, why does Jackie have to be so oblivious to how I feel about her?"

"Well, you know, if you really wanna impress her, you should grow a beard, like some of the guys in Der-Keizer Zap! They got all the ladies!" Kon showed Kin the album cover.

"A beard huh? Hmm…"

In another part of town, Tracy and Macy were at the BlabTab store. A huge line had formed outside by the time the two had arrived.

"Ugh! This line is insane!" Tracy complained.

"It's not that surprising Tracy." Macy held up a flyer. "They say the new BlabTab 5 point half, has three times the cool factor for only twice the price!"

"That's why I need one so bad!" Tracy grabbed her friend's shoulders. "Let's find the end of this line! Macy! Down!"

Macy got onto the ground and lifted Tracy onto her back. She then started running toward the back of the line. After a while, they finally reached the end, which was about twenty blocks away from the store. Macy collapsed on the ground and Tracy got up.

"Finally! My arms were getting tired!"

"Hey look!" Macy pointed ahead of her. "There's your house!"

"Bonus! You stay here and keep my spot in line while I freshen up!"

Kin had just finished setting up coordinates on the time machine to go one year into the future.

"The time machine is ready to rock and roll!" he declared.

Tracy peeked inside the garage.

"What's this? A time machine, huh? I could use it to skip that dumb BlabTab line and get that phone right now! Or…" the teen smiled evilly.

Corey, Laney, and Kon piled inside of the time machine.

"Run along now!" Kin said. "I'm staying behind to reinvent lemonade. You know Jackie, you're welcome to stay and help me out. I could use something to make the lemonade a little sweeter…"

Hearts filled Kin's eyes as he stared at Jackie.

"Are you kidding? The future awaits!" Jackie ran into the machine and shut the door.

"So close…" Kin sighed.

Tracy ran into the garage and smashed the machine with Corey's guitar.

"Take that science!"

The machine vanished.

"Tracy! Do you know what you've done?!" Kin panicked.

"Aw, what's the matter? Are you upset that I sent your wittle crushy away forever, Klutzy Nerd?"

Kin chuckled. "Oh you didn't send Jackie away forever. Just for a year but-"

"I SAID FOREVER DORK FACE!"

**FOREVER IS A LONG, LONG TIME!**

One year later, Jackie and the other band members arrived in Tranquil Town square.

"All right future!" Corey greeted. "Music me!"

Corey held out his ear and waited to hear a brand new sound, but all he heard was a bird tweeting.

"There's a shocking lack of jet packs in this future." Kon said disappointed.

"Kon, we only went one year into the future." Jackie pointed out. "It's not that advanced."

"Are we sure that machine did anything?" Laney asked.

The four then heard a loud moaning sound from behind them.

"We could ask them!" Kon pointed to a group of citizens who were slowly moving towards them. All of them had strange devices attached to their ears.

"Hello music lovers of the future!" Corey waved. "I mean, you certainly look like you love music!"

One of the citizens held out one of the devices and tried to attach it to Corey's ear.

"Look out!" Jackie pulled Corey away from the huge crowd and all four teens fell into a manhole. A series of pipes led them all the way down into the sewers.

Jackie got up. "Okay, what's going on here? Why were those people trying to attack us?"

Laney looked at the sewer walls. On them were a bunch of tally marks, doodles of Jackie, and a bunch of hearts with writing on the inside: J+K Forever.

"I'm actually kind of wondering where all this graffiti came from."

The friends heard a creepy laugh echoing through the sewers.

"What was that?" Corey got scared.

The laughter continued to get louder and louder.

"I think it's coming from over there!" Jackie pointed in the opposite direction. "Let's follow the sound!"

Jackie and the gang headed towards the right where the laugh was coming from. They reached a dead end and saw a figure sitting by himself in the dark. He was drawing tally marks on the walls and talking to himself.

"Everything's gonna be fine…" He said. "I can do this…if I could survive without her before, I can survive without her now…and besides, it's only for a year…and she's coming back today. I know she is. They all are. But then again…what if I set up the coordinates wrong? What if instead of one year, they won't come back until after one century?! I don't think my heart can wait for a hundred more years!"

He pulled out a picture frame and hugged it.

"Oh Jackie! Why did I have to stay behind?! I could have been with you…but instead I chose to be with this failed lemon juice concoction!" the figure threw a pitcher of lemonade into the murky sewer waters and started sobbing. "Please come back! I miss you so much! I miss your beautiful smile, your beautiful hair, and most of all…I miss hearing your beautiful voice."

"Kin?"

"Yeah, just like that." Kin did a double take and gasped when he saw his friends behind him. "Jackie!"

The kid in glasses squeezed Jackie into a hug.

"You're back! I knew you would come today! I haven't seen you for…" he counted the tally marks on the walls. "525,598 minutes!"

"You kept track of how many minutes I was gone?" Jackie was a bit weirded out.

"Yep! I've been miserable since minute one…"

"And you grew a beard?"

"Well actually I just forgot to shave. I couldn't anyway because I've been living down here ever since you and the other guys left."

"Okay…so tell me something else?" Jackie pointed to a heart on the wall. "What are these things for? And what do the letters mean?"

"Oh that's easy! The J is obviously for you and the K is well…let's just say he's someone who really likes and cares a lot about you."

"But Kin, that's ridiculous! I only think of Kon as a friend!"

Kin growled.

"Okay enough of this!" Laney interrupted. "Can you please tell us what's been going on?"

"And can I touch your beard?" Kon reached for Kin's beard but Kin smacked his hand away.

"No! Only Jackie is allowed to touch my beard. You want to Jackie?"

"Uh…no thanks Kin. Just tell us what happened."

"Fine…" Kin cleared his throat. "This is the sewer of the future! Tranquil Town's been taken over by cell phone cyborgs…and I've gone a little nuts!"

"That's an understatement." Laney mumbled to herself.

"That's great Kin, but let's stay on task." Corey said. "Tell us what the music's like so we can go home and be huge!"

Kon started rubbing Kin's beard and Kin giggled. He smacked his hand again.

"Guys you don't get it! Tracy smashed the machine! You can't go home!"

Kon kept rubbing and Kin pushed his brother off of him.

"Quit it! And music doesn't even exist anymore!"

Jackie, Laney, and Kon gasped.

"But what could destroy music?" Corey asked.

Kin recalled what happened a year ago.

"It all started when…"

He told his band mates the story of how Macy waited in line to get Tracy a new phone.

"Must stay in line…" Macy had told herself. "Tracy will appreciate…maybe even…praise!"

Tracy met up with the nerdette a few minutes later.

"This outfit is perfect!" she exclaimed. "Sorry it took two days. Forgot you were here."

The door to the store opened and hit Macy in the face showing that the two girls were finally at the front. The man who opened the door had a strange looking device in his hand.

"Who wants to be the first guinea pig, er, I mean lucky customer to try the new BlabTab In-Brain Implant? Network with your friends' brains! Instant updates in your brain!"

"In-Brain Implant?" Tracy picked up Macy by the collar. "Macy! If Rick Salary gets one, we'll be joined at the brain! I need this!"

Tracy tackled the man who worked at the store, took the device from his hands, and attached it to her ear. That's when things started to go wrong. As soon as the device latched itself onto Tracy, her hair turned green, her eyes became pixelated, and her outfit turned completely black.

"Wait until Rick Salary gets a download of me!" Tracy's voice sounded different. "My brain sparkles! I am the harbinger of a glorious dawn! Meld with me and submit to my commands!"

"Anyone else?" the store worker asked.

The people in line stood blank.

"It's free!"

Everyone cheered and ran to the front to get their brain implanted.

"And then came…the reckoning!" Kin continued.

Once the townspeople had put on their BlabTabs, they were under Tracy's control. The Implants received orders from her brain.

"And then came tea time…then nap time…and then more reckoning! But some of us still fight for freedom!" Kin finished.

"Um, then where is everyone?" Jackie commented.

"Half of our numbers are out foraging."

Rick Salary entered the sewers carrying something in his hands.

"Rick Salary gathered five kinds of nuts." Rick handed the nuts to Kin. "Solid day."

"Yay team!" Kin cheered.

"So, Tracy controls all the cyborgs and has banned music completely?" Corey summed up the situation.

"This future is seriously wrong!" Laney decided. "Like salty black licorice wrong!"

Corey nodded. "That's no future to live for. Or in! Or through. We came to the future looking for a way to change music. But now, we have to save it!"

"Then we'd better hurry! Cause all that's left is…this!" Kin pulled out his Der-Keizer Zap album and put it on the record player. He and Kon started dancing.

"Hmm…" Corey thought about it. "Music made Der-Keizer Zap's computer blow a circuit right? Maybe Grojband's music can blow Tracy's network!"

"Yeah!" Jackie agreed. "She already can't stand listening to you guys from the garage! Imagine if she had to listen to you from her brain!"

"Aside from the obvious 'holy long shot' comment, how do we get past all the cellborgs?" Laney referred to a computer where a security camera was shown.

"That's easy Laney!" Jackie said. "We just have to use the most irresistible bait known to Tracy kind! You guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Hmm…" Kin started to think, then giggled when Kon ran his hand through his beard.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Tracy was in the garage sitting on a throne. She was surrounded by a few of the hypnotized citizens.

"Drones! Where is Rick Salary?!" she demanded. "I must feel his thoughts!"

Macy was right beside her BFF.

"They still haven't found him. But I'm ready to join your network!"

Tracy looked away from Macy.

"…Still ready…"

Jackie was outside the garage hiding in one of the bushes. She talked into a walkie-talkie.

"Okay gang! Time for operation: Hunk Overload!"

"Jackie? Are you sure you don't wanna touch my beard? It's extra silky." Kin persuaded.

"Yes Kin. I'm sure. Just stick with the plan."

"Aww…"

"Move out guys!" Corey ordered.

The members of Grojband each put on a black wig that resembled Rick Salary's hair and separated themselves across town.

"I'm Rick Salary!"

"I'm Rick Salary!"

"I'm Rick Salary!"

"I'm Rick Salary!"

The cellborgs sent their findings to Tracy.

"Rick Salary sighted in Sector 1K."

"Rick Salary sighted in Sector 3G."

"Drones!" Tracy commanded. "Bring me Rick Salary!"

The citizens obeyed and left the garage. Once the coast was clear, Jackie snuck in.

"Hey Tracy!"

Tracy was shocked to see her sister standing there.

"Impossible! You were gone forever!"

"Forever just ran out!"

Three spotlights shined on Corey, Laney, and Kon.

"You can't turn the clocks back on us anymore Tracy!"

"Looks like the past is back to haunt you!"

"Your future is about to be history!"

A final spotlight shined on Kin.

"Did everyone make a time travel joke already? Is there time for one more? Does that count as mine? Also, Jackie would you like to touch my beard? I can tell you really want to."

"Uh, no. I really don't." Jackie shook her head. "You know Kin, there are some guys who look amazing with facial hair…and then there are those who don't."

Kin frowned and felt like crying. Kon reached over to touch Kin's beard again but Kin glared at him.

"Don't even think about it."

"You fools!" Tracy stood up. "You will all be assimilated into the Sparkle Brain!"

"Assimilated?" Macy looked hopeful. "Me too?"

"Not quite yet."

"Face it Tracy! You can't stop us!" Jackie said.

"From what?"

"From giving you Rick Salary!"

Rick slid down from one of the wires connected to Tracy's throne and landed next to the band. Tracy squealed.

"Finally! Rick! Join with me!" she got into the popular boy's face.

Rick took a few steps back and whispered to Jackie.

"Rick Salary wonders why you're sacrificing him."

"Easy! When Tracy has you, she'll overload with joy! She'll go diary, and my band will have the lyrics they need to blow her mind!"

"Go diary? What does that mean?"

Jackie didn't answer and instead placed a BlabTab on Rick's ear. Rick's eyes became pixelated and he started sending a message to Tracy's brain.

"Rick Salary feels one, zero, one, one, zero, zero, zero, one, zero, one…"

Tracy received the message and smiled big.

"Swoon! Rick Salary's brain is one with mine! Joy! My brain has never sparkled so hard!"

The teenaged girl giggled and shot up into the air with a blast of blue light. Pixelated hearts surrounded her and her eyes were in the shape of pixelated hearts as well. She summoned her diary and wrote pixelated hearts inside of it. The sky outside the garage filled with pink heart-shaped clouds. Tracy then finished writing and landed on her throne while Corey caught the diary.

"Time to face the music Sparkle Brain! 1, 1, 1, 0!"

_You're going down (down…down…down…)_

_You're going down (down…down…down…)_

_You're going down (down…down…down…)_

_I'll close your page_

_You're going down (down…down…down..)_

_Back to the stone age_

_Sit right back and let me dial you up_

_A big kick for your sorry butt_

_I'll do a blitzkrieg on your wires_

_Transmit you back to the techno fires_

_You're going down (down…down…down…)_

_You're going down (down…down…down…)_

_You're going down (down…down…down…)_

_I'm filled with rage!_

_You're going down (down…down…down…)_

_My foot and your face will engage_

_You're going down_

Tracy was laid back on her throne.

"Jackie? Did your band play something? Because my BlabTab has a noise cancellation function!"

"Oh we were just recording a custom ring-tone." Corey explained. "Jacks, why don't you upload it…to the network?!"

"NOOOO!" Tracy screamed.

Just then, the cellborgs returned after failing to find Rick and surrounded the band.

Jackie took the BlabTab from Corey and slowly moved it toward her ear. Laney slapped it out of her hand.

"Jackie no! You'll be networked!"

"It's the only way to upload your tune and bring down Sparkle Brain! Someone has to sacrifice their-"

Macy spotted the BlabTab in Jackie's hand and snatched it away.

"Ha! Finally!" the curly-haired girl attached the device to her ear. "Command me Tracy! Command me from inside my brain!"

But instead of hearing orders from her best friend, Macy heard Grojband's new song. Tracy could hear it too and was horrified.

"NOOOO! Grojband's music! In my brain! Get it out! Get it out!"

The long-haired girl ripped the BlabTab off of her ear and returned to normal. Since Tracy was no longer running their brains, the town citizens returned to normal too. Nobody seemed to remember anything.

"Huh? What happened?"

"Where are we?"

"What's going on?"

"So…that just happened." Laney noted.

**TIME TO WRAP THIS PUPPY UP!**

Jackie and Grojband were walking around Tranquil Town. Kin had just finished shaving off his beard.

"Why'd you have to shave it off bro?" Kon sobbed. "Why?! It was so soft! Smooth! Shiny! Now that it's gone I'll never be happy a-"

Kin handed his brother a glass of lemonade.

"Ooh!" Kon took it and started drinking.

"Well, I'm glad that it's gone." Jackie said. "At least you finally got the chance to shave."

Kin tossed the razor he was using behind him.

"Well, actually…I could have shaved it off before. The truth is, I only grew a beard because I thought you, I mean, girls would like it."

Jackie shrugged. "Well you shouldn't worry about what girls think. You should let people like you for who you are. I know I like you for who you are."

Kin gasped and fell into Kon's arms.

"There's no time like the present…"

"Dude! You spilled my lemonade!" Kon complained.

"So, we're stuck one year in the future?" Laney asked. "Doesn't look like much has changed."

"The future always turns into the present Lanes." A spotlight appeared over Corey. "Music is all about keeping time! But if times are a changing, how can you keep em? If being up-to-date means a wire in the brain, I'd rather live in the past! Right now!"

"But what about being cutting edge?" Laney wondered aloud.

"Grojband's retro now bro! You can't get more cutting edge than that! Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**I have to say, writing original scenarios for you guys is a lot harder than it sounds. It takes me a long time just trying to figure out how those chapters begin! So yeah, the reason I bring this up is because I'm still working on suggestions. So far I've written up to Chapter 33 and I'm still working on 34. Then after I get that one done, I've got three more to write. So don't expect me to upload every day from now on. Just saying. See you later!**


	32. Going Up

**Hey guys. I have some bad news. This will be the last chapter of Meeting Grojband. I'm sorry but I just can't do it anymore. You guys have given me so many requests that I don't think I will be able to get caught up with writing chapters. So I figured it would be better to just cut it off right here. Again, I am sorry, but I can only do so much. This last chapter is based off of "Love in a Nethervator" which was suggested by AA. Hope you like it.**

* * *

**Chapter 32**

**Going Up**

Laney, Kin, and Kon were sitting on the stage in the garage. The twins were showing Laney something cool they had discovered not too long ago.

"When you said you had something cool to show me, I thought it would be better than gum flavored gum." Laney opened her mouth revealing a wad of gum.

Kin took the gum off of Laney's tongue and put it in his mouth.

"Gross!" Laney gagged.

"But it's so good…" he sighed blissfully. "I wish Corey and Jackie were here to try it. Where are they today?"

"I haven't seen them at all…" Laney said.

"Who knows? But I have to say, they've been spending a lot of time together." Kon claimed. "I wonder if they're…in love?!"

Laney and Kin glanced at each other nervously, but then smiled.

"Nah, there's no way Corey would date Jackie…"

"Jackie doesn't think of Corey that way. They would never love each other…"

"Would they?" Kin and Laney said together.

They both started getting a vision of what Jackie and Corey were doing at the time.

_"__Oh Jacks...you're so beautiful. I'm so glad that you're my manager now instead of Laney."_

_"Core, you're the coolest! And you're so much cooler than that dorky Kin."_

_"C'mere you…"_

"NOOOOOO!" Laney and Kin screamed.

The garage door opened and Jackie and Corey came in. The latter was looking very angry and the former had an arm around him. Kin and Laney saw this and gasped.

"C'mon, you should really sit down." Jackie told Corey.

Laney zipped up in front of the manager.

"How could you?! I thought you understood me! We shared a handshake and everything!"

"What?" Jackie didn't have a clue as to what Laney was going on about.

Kin got in Corey's face.

"What are you doing with my woman Riffin?! Having the time of your life I see!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Jackie asked.

"Uh…aren't you two dating each other?" Laney blushed.

"Dating? What ever gave you that idea?"

"Well, it's just that you've been spending a lot of time together and um…we were just wondering."

Jackie smiled. "Guys, Corey and I were out looking for a gig for you this weekend! There's no way that I would ever date him! We're just friends!"

Corey shoved Kin out of his face.

"Back off Kin! I'm not in the mood to deal with your crazy theories!"

"What's wrong Core?" Laney asked.

"Jackie and I got stuck in an elevator and had to listen to forty one and a half minutes of elevator music!"

Corey grabbed his head and growled. Kin shined a light in the front man's ears.

"Hmm…as I suspected. Your ear drums have experienced trauma, and your head looks really angry inside."

Corey got onto the stage and faced his friends.

"Elevator music has been lame for too long! And it's time we fixed it!"

"Yeah!" Laney cheered but was surprised when Kin and Kon didn't cheer with her. "Right?"

"You can't just fix elevator music!" Kin explained.

"Rock Lore tells us it's evil for a reason!" Kon continued.

"Brother? Shall we illuminate?"

"We shall!" Kon started telling a story. "Elevator music is born in the underworld, sent up into elevator shafts to torment humanity! This dark magic is the work of the Button Keeper, an evil monster!"

"And the only way down is to summon the Nethervator by chanting a magical incantation!"

Corey got between Kin and Kon.

"So, what's the chant? You know, so I don't accidentally say it."

Kon folded his arms and looked away.

"Nope! There's no way you'll make us say…'going down, basement floor, lovely weather we're having'."

Kin gasped as Kon had said the chant. The garage floor covered itself in flames and a scary looking elevator emerged from the fire.

"THE NETHERVATOR!" Kin and Kon cried.

"See? It's a sign!" Corey walked to the elevator. "It wants us to fix elevator music! Quick! Grab the gear!"

The blue-haired boy started pushing the twins into the elevator along with all of their instruments. Jackie and Laney stood back.

"Core, riding a haunted elevator we had to summon to go to the underworld, seems risky doesn't it?"

"I agree Corey. This 'Nethervator' doesn't seem safe."

"Thanks you two! I'll take those under advisement!" Corey pushed the girls into the elevator. "Watch your step! Time to rock the underworld!"

He looked at the long row of buttons on the wall.

"Now which button do I press?" he spotted one at the bottom. "This one with the fiery skull seems promising!"

Corey pressed the red button and then Kon pressed the rest of the buttons.

"Ugh…" everyone else groaned.

"Hey, if we're riding this thing to our fiery end, I wanna have fun!" Kon giggled.

**THIS IS GONNA TAKE A WHILE!**

Tracy entered the garage carrying a box of supplies. She was trying to think of a plan to trap Rick Salary and herself together.

"Ugh! Is it too much to ask to have Rick Salary get trapped with me so he'll fall in love with me? Why is this so hard?!" She whined. "MACY!"

Macy came in looking beat up.

"Ew! What happened to your face?" Tracy was disgusted.

A little while earlier, Tracy had set up a spider web in the park so she could trap Rick with it.

"I'll just push Rick into this huge web and he'll be mine forever! Now to test it. MACY!"

Macy jumped onto the web and got stuck.

"Perfect! Ooh, there's Rick!"

Rick was across from the girls looking at a bird through a pair of binoculars.

"Rick says the bird-watching badge will complete his Cool Scout sash." The hunk saw the bird flying away and ran after it.

"Oh no! He's leaving!" Tracy followed him. "BRB Macy!"

Macy tried to get off of the huge spider web, but she couldn't move. That's when she saw a giant spider next to her and it did not look happy.

The present Tracy recounted all of the events.

"That was a total fail!" she said. "Idea! NOW!"

Macy looked ahead of her and saw the elevator standing in the garage.

"You could…trap Rick inside that elevator."

Tracy looked behind her. "I have an elevator? It's the perfect place to trap Rick! In there, we'll be able to hear our hearts beating together!"

The mean teen slowly moved her finger to the button that made the elevator go up. Meanwhile, the band was still waiting for it to go down.

"…So, how about the…sports game?" Kon asked Corey.

"Yeah…great game."

The elevator finally opened its doors signaling to the gang that they made it to the bottom floor. They stepped outside and saw a pit of lava and a ton of elevators.

"Wow, this place is really…creepy…" Jackie noted. "Can we not get trapped here forever?"

"Sure Jacks." Laney nodded. "But, where is everybody?"

"I…AM EVERYBODY!" a loud voice boomed across from them.

The five screamed when they saw a monstrous looking shadow. The shadow stepped into the light and revealed itself to be a short and old elevator man.

"The name's Otto!" he said. "Welcome to my fantastic kingdom of rock and fire!"

The organ behind Otto shot out fire from its pipes. Kon zipped up to the tiny man.

"You're the Button Keeper? Dude, you looked so different in our fantasy!"

"It's probably this…" Otto removed his hat and turned into a giant monster. "DAZZLING HAT!"

Kin shrieked and jumped so high that he landed in Jackie's arms. He blushed and giggled.

"Oh…hi Jackie. Wow, you're even prettier up close…"

Jackie dropped Kin on the ground.

"You can't intimidate us!" Corey yelled to Otto. "We're here to tell you that elevator music is lame!"

Otto put his hat back on and became human again.

"And if the truth were donuts, you'd have a dozen! It is lame."

"Hm…I thought I'd have to fight you on that. Oh well. We came to make it rock! So you can stop making elevator music now."

Otto chuckled. "Oh no! This isn't where elevator music is made! This is where I TRAP IT FOR ALL ETERNITY!"

When Otto became a monster, Kin jumped back into Jackie's arms.

"Gee, there sure is a nice view from up here…hee, hee!"

Jackie let go of Kin and he hit the ground.

Otto turned back to normal and Corey put a hand on his back.

"Uh, Otto? Seems I was misinformed, so we'll just head home." He pushed his bandmates toward the elevator. "Sorry to bother you! Bye!"

Tracy was still moving toward the button on the elevator very slowly.

"Sure is taking you a long time to press that button, huh?" Macy asked.

"I know, right?" Tracy pressed the button. "There! Finally!"

Unfortunately, when Tracy pushed the button, it caused the Nethervator to go up and close its doors to Jackie and the band. They all screamed for they knew that they were trapped in the underworld. The elevator made its way to the top floor and opened its doors for Tracy.

"Yes!" she jumped in the air. "Now, how do I get Rick to stop chasing birds and start chasing being trapped with me? Hmm…"

**TRACY'S GOT AN EVIL PLAN!**

Macy was in a bird costume, pecking at some bird seed on the ground. Rick was standing in the Nethervator watching her with his binoculars.

"Rick can't believe he's watching a rare Feathered Follower in this suspiciously placed elevator. What a pretty bird."

"Pretty?!" Tracy popped out from behind the elevator. "That's it! Show's over!"

She got inside with Rick and pressed a button.

"Hold the door!" Macy jumped out of her costume and into the elevator before it could close. This caused her to smack face-first on the walls.

"Hey Rick." Tracy greeted. "How do you like my new elevator?"

"Rick thinks that elevators are the perfect metaphor for the ups and downs of life."

"Yes!" Tracy jumped up and down.

Jackie and Grojband, with nowhere else to go, went back to talk with Otto.

"So, our ride seems to have left." Corey informed him. "Is there another way out?"

"Short answer: no. Long answer: also no, but much more delightful!" Otto started telling his backstory. "It was 1857. I got a job on the very first elevator. But within that magic box was a horrid sound! And my good fortune turned to good unfortune! I heard it when I worked, ate, and slept! And eventually ooh…it changed me into a big sourpuss! I knew then it was my duty to trap and kill elevator music forever! But you keep putting more elevators in shafts which creates more elevator music which makes…me…MAAAAD!" Otto turned into a monster.

Kin screamed and jumped into Jackie's arms. He blushed.

"I kinda like this running gag, don't you?"

Jackie, once again, dropped the keyboardist.

"Well, since we don't play elevator music…" Corey began. "And you're scary when you're mad we would just like to get going."

"Yeah, so do you think you could open up that huge elevator?" Jackie requested.

Otto scratched his head. "Well, if my Nethervator brought you here, you must be elevator music! And I can't let you leave until you prove you're not."

"No problem!" Jackie stated. "Okay guys! Time to rock!"

The gang got out their instruments and Otto clapped excitedly.

"Ooh, I can't wait to hear lyrics again! Play me a song with lyrics and you're all free to go!"

Corey looked nervous. "Uh, we sort of…misplaced our lyrics…"

"No lyrics? How wonderful! You are elevator music! Now you're trapped forever and I have friends!" Otto laughed.

"I thought I made it clear that I didn't wanna get trapped in this place!" Jackie said exasperated. "Now, we're doomed!"

Tracy, meanwhile, was still in the Nethervator with Rick and Macy. The selfish girl put her plan into action by shutting the elevator down. She jumped into Rick's arms.

"Oh no." she pretended to be scared. "I guess we're stuck in here. Just you and me."

"What about me?" Macy pointed out.

"QUIET!"

Macy turned around so the two could be 'alone'.

"Now to hear our two beating hearts on the first day of forever…"

Tracy listened as she heard…three hearts beating. She glared at Macy.

"That's three hearts Macy!"

Macy held her breath in attempt to make her heart stop beating and she fainted. Tracy leaned her head against Rick's chest.

"Yay!"

Otto showed the five friends an old elevator.

"Your job is to push these into the lava!"

Using all of their strength, they managed to shove the elevator into the lava.

"You'll be so happy for eternity here!" Otto promised. "It's a marvelously awful existence, and we get to spend it together!"

When the short man skipped off, Laney faced Jackie.

"So, when you said that we were doomed, exactly how doomed are we?"

Just then, the gang heard loud giggling from above the underworld.

"What's that noise?" Jackie wondered.

She and the others rushed toward the elevator that brought them there and listened.

"Oh Rick!" they heard. "Our hearts sound like songs played on drums made of meat!"

"Tracy's stuck in the Nethervator with Rick?" Laney guessed. "She must be loving it!"

"Not for long!" Jackie said. "If we're gonna get the lyrics you guys need to prove you're not elevator music, you'll have to play some elevator music!"

Tracy snuggled into Rick's chest. "Is there anything cooler than love thumps in a box?"

A stereo was set up next to the elevator and Grojband supplied their own elevator music.

"It hurts my soul…" Kin whined.

Tracy and Rick could hear the music from inside the Nethervator.

"This Grojband elevator jam is for Tracy and Rick!" Corey said through a microphone.

"Grojband?!" Tracy was angry.

"And don't worry about it stopping! We're here for eternity!"

"Full disclosure: Rick Salary does not love elevator music." Rick dropped Tracy on the floor, put headphones on his ears, and walked to the other side of the elevator. "Rick will be over here forever."

Tracy stood up and started turning red.

"Ugh! I'm stuck in this box! With my sister's band's music!"

Tracy let out an angry scream and blasted into the air surrounded by elevators, beating hearts, and Rick's face. Her diary floated to her and she wrote in it. Lightning struck the buttons on the elevator causing it to drop to the bottom floor. When Tracy was finished, she landed on top of Rick and Macy. The diary flew out the elevator doors and landed in Corey's hand.

"Got it!"

Otto came out of another elevator.

"What in the candy canes is happening?!"

"Hey Otto! Ready for some not elevator music?" Jackie asked. "Hit it guys!"

The band started playing a song.

_Why am I trapped inside this box?_

_Can't find a way out_

_Can't open up these locks_

_My buttons get pushed_

_It makes me start and then I stop_

_Now I'm riding this box straight to the top!_

_I'm busting out of here!_

_I've had enough and I'm going to escape to where you can't permeate my brain_

_I'm busting out of here!_

_Not looking back_

_I'm going to the top and I'm leaving you all behind!_

The organs let out a blast of fire and the ceiling started crumbling.

"Stop!" Otto begged. "The walls can't take it!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, there will be no encore!" Corey led the others to the elevator. "Let's go!"

The elevator successfully took Jackie, Grojband, Tracy, Macy, and Rick out of the underworld and back into Jackie's garage. The eight fell out of the Nethervator and it went back to the underworld. Rick stood up and dusted himself off.

"Rick's going back to something he understands." A group of birds grabbed Rick by the arms and carried him off. "Birds."

Tracy thought about what Rick said.

"Birds like cages. Cages trap things! Macy! To the cage store!"

Macy followed her friend out of the garage.

"Gotta admit Core." Laney said. "It was cool to make elevator music rock!"

"Dunno Lanes. It's not a good idea to try and change something for the better." Corey gained a spotlight. "Things are terrible for a reason. And making them better, may make them worse. The elevator in your soul goes all the way down and you get trapped down there. A monster in your own mind."

"Did Otto die?" Kon asked.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Hey guys. Guess what? APRIL FOOLS! Yeah, that stuff at the beginning isn't true. This isn't the last chapter. You all know that I would never let this fanfic die early, no matter how piled up my requests get. Speaking of which, I wasn't lying about how many requests I have at the moment. I am still trying to catch up because you guys are still leaving requests even though I asked you not to. I now have FOUR more chapters to complete instead of two. So now I'm going to have to beg. Please, please, please, PLEASE stop leaving suggestions until I say I have completed the chapters for the ones I have just received. Writing these chapters takes a lot longer than you think and I want to finish them as soon as possible. I will let you know when I finish them and then you can leave requests again. Okay, that is all. Bye!**

**Fun Fact: The "running gag" of Kin jumping in Jackie's arms is something I got from "The 7D" which is another great show that you should definitely watch.**


	33. The Soul Model

**Chapter update: I have two more chapters to write up (both original ideas by the way) so please just wait a little longer if you have any new ideas and I'll let you know when I'm finished with them. Also I want to respond to a couple of guest reviewers before we begin this new chapter. The first review comes from AA and he/she said:**

**"Kin and Jackie are going to get together eventually right?"**

**Maaaaaayyyyybeee...that's all I can say about that for now. Next we have a review from makenzy who said:**

**"****Why did you make yourself a character instead of me? Shes so mean"**

**First of all, why would I make you into a character when I don't even know who you are? Secondly, are you talking about Jackie or Tracy? Because Jackie is the character based on me and I don't know why you would think she is mean. This comment would only make sense if you were talking about Tracy. Sorry, just being honest.**

**Anyway, that's over and done with so here's a chapter that's based on the episode "Soulin' Down the Road" which was requested by AA. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 33**

**The Soul Model**

Kin was sitting on the couch making adjustments to the toaster in the garage. He picked up a screwdriver and stuck it into the opening. Kon watched in anticipation.

"So when you're done with that thing, will it feel stuff?"

"No." Kin responded. "I'm just making it so it'll toast happy faces on my toast."

"It would be cool if it toasted a face for whatever mood it was in!"

"If we programmed a soul, we'd be telling it how to feel." Kin poked his brother in the stomach. "Creepy."

"You're already telling it how to toast dude!"

Jackie took a look at Kin's newest invention.

"A toaster that prints smiley-faces? Cool! Can I have one Kin?"

Kin smiled as he handed his true love a piece of toast with a smiley-face on it.

"That's so cute!" Jackie patted Kin on the back. "Thanks Kin."

Kin just giggled in response.

"Hey! No fair!" Laney was holding a slice of bread in her hand. "Why does she get one first? I've been waiting longer!"

Just then, Corey came into the garage.

"Guys! Tell me all about soul!"

"In a toaster context?" Kon asked.

"In a music context!"

"Soul music?!" Kin and Kon's eyes sparkled.

"Rhythm and blues plus rock n roll!"

"Is the recipe for 50's soul!"

"The Motivations were the princes of 50's soul music!" Kin explained. "If they had a feelin' that needed revealin' they let music do the healin'!"

Jackie picked up a microphone. "Oh yeah, their music flowed so naturally! How did their songs go again?"

"Allow me to refresh your memory my lady." Kin took the mic.

"Kin, you're going to sing for me?"

Kin got on stage. "Sure. I've been meaning to do this for a long time."

The nerdy kid started singing one of the Motivations' songs.

"Ooh baby! I'm hurtin' and longin'!"

The song made Jackie cringe. It wasn't the lyrics or the song itself. It was Kin's singing. It was terrible! Corey and Laney covered their ears while Kon took the mic from Kin.

"Step aside my untalented brother. Let me show you how it's done!" Kon began to sing.

_Ooh, baby!_

_I'm hurtin' and longin'_

_But I just can't sing out_

_My heart has to ring out_

_In this chest full of love!_

Jackie, Corey, and Laney applauded for the drummer.

"Kon that was incredible!" Jackie exclaimed. "I had no idea you could sing like that!"

"I had no idea either!" Laney added.

"I think we found a soloist for our next song!" Corey announced. "Once…we get lyrics that is!"

All three cheered once more as Kon bowed.

"Hey! What about me?" Kin raised his hand.

Corey rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"You? Well…um…no offense Kin, but maybe you should just stick to keyboards from now on."

"Yeah…" Laney muttered as she and Corey walked away.

"…You thought I was good right Jackie?"

"Uh…well, I think it was a good effort Kin. But maybe Corey's right. You're a lot better at playing the keyboard."

The brunette met up with Corey and Laney.

"But I usually sing a lot better too! I just…have a little cold, that's all!" he coughed into his fist. "See? See? My voice doesn't sound the best right now, but I can really sing!"

"Need a throat lozenge, Mr. Excuses?" Kon offered one to Kin but he smacked it out of his hand.

"Dude! Why do you always have to make me look bad? Especially in front of Jackie? Are you trying to ruin my chances with her so you can have her for yourself?"

Kon scoffed. "Of course not! I like Jackie, but I'm not obsessed with making her love me like you are."

"Then why must you get in the way all the time?"

"You wouldn't understand. Anyway, it's not my fault that you can't sing to save your life. Some people are born with the talent, and others aren't. You're just not blessed like I am."

Kin's eyes filled with tears at the thought of not being able to sing and it felt like his spirit had broken. An imaginary rain cloud started pouring down on him leaving him soaked. Meanwhile, Corey had come up with another crazy plan (that just might work).

"Guys, I've decided that Grojband needs to feel some feelings! It's 50's night at the Tranquil Town Drive-In and I booked us to play some soul music!"

"What?!" Kon cried, grabbing Corey by his shoulders. "Corey, you can't just play soul music! You have to feel it! We'll never pull it off unless we feel the soul inside! And people don't have real feelings anymore!"

Laney looked at her plain piece of bread.

"I think I feel a frown coming on."

Corey took Laney's bread and put it in the toaster causing Laney to smile and blush.

"What if we pumped up our souls with some kind of amplifier? That might help us."

"Kin? Do you think you could build something like that?" Jackie asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…sure." Kin looked down, still embarrassed by his poor performance. "I guess inventing's something that I'm decent at. Sort of…"

The toaster shot out some toast with a happy face on it.

"Yay!" Laney cheered, happy to have her toast at last.

**TOASTY SKULL TRANSITION!**

At the Tranquil Town Drive-In, Movie-In-Your-Car Billy was prepping for 50's night. He had just hired Tracy to work as a waitress but things weren't working out when Tracy found out what she had to wear.

"There is no way that I'm wearing this dumb poodle skirt!" she complained.

"It's 50's night Tracy!" Billy persuaded. "And that's what skirts was like in the 50's! The Tranquil Town Movie-In-Your-Car Barn insists that yous wear it!"

Tracy pulled out her phone and started typing out a message. Billy heard his phone and took it out of his pocket.

"Hold on! I got a Bleat." He read through the message.

"'Tracy Matthews so totally just quit her job and junk'. Wait, what?!"

Before the millionaire could even react, Tracy had already sped off to her car. Macy was chatting with her from the car window.

"Way to quit your job over a skirt Tracy! So since you have the day off, I figured maybe we could have a BFF Girl Fun Road Trip!"

Tracy rolled her eyes. "Oh sorry Macy. But you're not in my car and I'm leaving!"

She pressed her foot on the gas and drove off, leaving Macy in the dust.

"Okay, I understand." Macy said. "I'll plan ahead next time Tracy!"

Kin, meanwhile, had finally finished inventing something to amp up the band's soul. It was a spirit camera (a camera that could apparently take pictures of ghosts and other supernatural things) with a dreamcatcher and crystals hanging off of it. Jackie looked over the invention and smiled.

"Nice job Kin. Looks good."

Kin frowned at these words.

"_Yeah, it's only good._" He thought. "_It's not great. It's not amazing. It's not even close to being super-great, amazingly awesome. It's just good. That's all it'll ever be. It's better than what I am though. I'm not good for anything."_

"Kin! Hurry up and take our picture!" Corey interrupted the saddened scientist's thoughts. "I wanna get our souls amped up while Laney's mouth is too full to harsh on this plan!"

Laney was currently eating a toasted sandwich and she, Corey, and Kon were in front of the spirit camera.

"Okay, okay! I'll start the timer!" Kin pushed down on the toaster that was on top of the camera and got into the shot. "Not that it's gonna work anyway…"

Before the camera could take their picture, a loud engine sound could be heard from outside the garage. Everyone ran away as Tracy's car smashed the garage door open and hit the spirit camera. The spirit camera zapped Tracy which made her soul leave her body and go inside her car. The camera then crashed against the floor and a picture came out of it. Jackie and Grojband slowly came out of hiding and saw Tracy fast asleep in her car. Laney swallowed the food she was eating.

"I'm not so sure about this plan Core."

Jackie picked up the remains of the spirit camera.

"Oh man! She wrecked the machine! Without it, you guys can't play the gig! Kin, do you think you can fix it?"

"What's the point? It's ruined…I knew it wouldn't work. I can't sing, I can't invent…you may as well find someone else to play keyboards because I doubt I can play."

"Kin quit being silly! We need a new spirit camera and you're the only one who can make one."

"I didn't make the camera. I got it from some kiosk at the mall. You didn't think I was smart enough to build one on my own did you?"

"I-"

"I didn't think so." Kin sighed.

Jackie looked through the window of her sister's car.

"Don't get up Tracy! We're fine!" she poked Tracy on her head but she wouldn't wake up. "Ugh! C'mon guys! Let's get that camera!"

Tracy's body remained asleep after the five left, but surprisingly, something else was awake.

"Get out of my grill Jackie!" a voice was heard. "Hee, hee! Car puns! Wait...what is this? I can't feel my…anything!"

It turned out that Tracy's voice was coming from the radio inside of her car.

"What the what is going on?!" Tracy then figured it out when she opened the car doors without using any part of her body. "I'm in my car…I am my car! Wait! Boys love cars! Rick's a boy! Rick will love me! I gotta dump this limp body before I ask him out!"

Tracy used the car to back out of the garage and then went out to find Macy.

"So yeah, I'll totally go on this lame road trip with you!" Tracy said to her best friend. "But I'm not gonna move or talk or do anything, okay?"

Macy didn't seem to notice that the headlights were blinking every time Tracy talked or that Tracy herself wasn't moving her lips when she talked. But she didn't care as long as she could finally spend some quality time with her BFF.

"No problem Tracy!" she dragged Tracy's lifeless body out of the car. "I'm just glad I get to plan the trip!"

The nerdette took Tracy's body to her motorcycle and let her ride in the back.

"We'll take so many BFF selfies!" Macy pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of her and Tracy on the motorcycle. Then she rode off with what she thought was her best friend.

Tracy slammed the door on her car.

"So, how does this super cute girl car spend her day?" she asked herself. "Makeover!"

With that, Tracy used her new body to drive towards the mall. Speaking of the mall, Jackie and Grojband were already there talking with the owner of the kiosk who sold Kin the spirit camera.

"Welcome back to the Quackery Shack!" the kiosk owner greeted. "We believe in everything!"

"Hi, we need another spirit camera." Jackie requested.

"Cool! Are you taking pictures of auras? Or ghosts? Or spirit orbs? They all exist you know."

Kon rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous! We're amping up our soul energy so we can play music at a drive-in you crackpot!"

"Kon! Be nice." Jackie scolded.

The kiosk owner pulled out a spirit camera from behind her booth.

"This is our last camera and it only has one shot left on it. No one makes that old timey film anymore."

Kon pointed the camera at himself. "Say cheese!"

"NO!" Jackie snatched the camera away before Kon could waste the shot.

"What?"

"Let's hope Tracy doesn't photobomb us this time." Corey said.

As if on cue, the friends heard another engine sound. They looked behind them and screamed when they saw headlights.

"Move it!" Tracy's voice was heard as her car sped past Jackie and the band.

"Did anyone else just not see Tracy driving her car?!" Corey cried.

"C'mon!" Jackie led Corey, Laney, and Kon away from the booth so they could follow Tracy's car. Kin stayed behind and sighed. The kiosk owner took notice of this.

"Hey little fella, what's got you down?"

"I think a better question would be, what hasn't got me down? My latest invention broke, I almost got hit by a car, and the love of my life likes my brother more than me…and it's all because…I can't sing."

The kiosk owner laughed. "Is that all?"

Kin nodded.

"Aw, c'mon! I'm sure you're not that bad! Let me hear you."

Kin took a deep breath and sang a high note causing the glass in all of the display windows to shatter.

"Whoa…you really are that bad!" the kiosk owner noted.

"Told ya…I may as well face facts…I'll never be happy again…"

"Hmm…hey listen. I think I may have something that'll help you."

"Really?"

The young woman started digging behind her booth and finally came out with a necklace with a orb on it.

"Ta-da!"

Kin took the necklace and his eyes sparkled.

"Wow…uh…what is it?"

"It's a tone necklace! Neat, huh?"

"Looks like an ordinary necklace to me…"

The kiosk owner put her arm around Kin. "Oh, don't be fooled! It's totally far from ordinary! See, anyone who wears that necklace, can gain an angelic singing voice! That's because the orb it's attached to, is said to contain the voice of a Rock God!"

"Ooh…"

"Go ahead! Try it on!"

Kin put the necklace around his neck, breathed in, and sang. This time however, the sound was beautiful. So beautiful that the shattered glass turned back into whole windows. Kin gasped.

"It works! I can sing! I can sing! My spirit is finally healed!" he handed the kiosk owner a handful of cash and hugged her. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

The young teen ran off to show his friends the necklace while the kiosk owner waved goodbye. She snickered quietly.

"Bout time I got rid of that worthless necklace. Man, these people will believe anything…"

Jackie and the others were watching Tracy's car in one of the shoe stores.

"Shoes!" Tracy tried to put the shoe over her wheels but it got crushed instead. "Argh! They don't fit! Whatever!"

The car zoomed off to another store to find some new pants. One of the store workers let her "try on" a pair.

"Those make your bumper look big." The worker said.

Tracy used her engine to growl.

"They're my size!" she slammed into the mirror. "Your mirror is broken!"

She backed out of the boutique and went off to buy some makeup. Jackie and Grojband followed her and were surprised to see one of the samplers cowering in fear over the feisty vehicle.

"Ooh, lip gloss! Gimme!" the car demanded.

The sampler started smearing Tracy's hood with lip gloss. Jackie and the band went outside to regroup.

"This is weird." Laney said. "It's like Tracy's car has a mind of its own!"

"Yeah. Kin, do you have any idea what's going on?" Jackie looked around but didn't see her favorite keyboardist anywhere. "Kin?"

As if on cue, Kin came up to the four looking excited.

"There you are! Where have you been?" Jackie asked.

"I'll gladly explain Jackie. But first…listen to this!"

Kin started to sing again and the windows that Tracy had broken were back to their former shape.

"Whoa…" the others were in awe.

"Kin, your voice sounds amazing!" Jackie cried.

"Yeah, you're even better than me!" Corey commented.

"I'll say!" Laney agreed.

Kon gave Kin a friendly noogie. "I always knew my brother had it in him!"

Kin blushed.

"Aw, gee guys it was nothing, really!"

Jackie then remembered something.

"But Kin, I thought you said you had a cold and couldn't sing very well?"

This statement made Kin blush even more.

"Oh…that…I guess I…got better…" he laughed nervously. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice the necklace around his neck. Corey put an arm around his friend.

"Makes sense to me! Hey Kin, how would you like to be another soloist for our new song?"

Laney cleared her throat loudly.

"…As soon as we get lyrics?"

"Me? Sing a solo? Are you serious?"

"Totally!"

Kin smiled confidently. Even though he was never sick to begin with, he felt a lot better.

"I'll do it!"

Everyone but Jackie cheered.

"Uh, look Kin. I'm happy for you and all, but we still kind of have a problem. Apparently, Tracy's car is moving around on its own. And also, it's talking and acting just like Tracy!"

Kin reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture that the old spirit camera took. He gasped at what he saw. The photo was of Tracy inside her car with her own soul sitting next to her!

"I knew it! The camera was too strong! It shoved Tracy's soul out of her body and into her car! Kinda cool actually."

"We've only got one soul shot left." Laney claimed. "We either get Tracy's soul back into her body, or boost our own souls for the gig."

Corey thought about it. "With Tracy trapped in her car, we can kiss our regular diary lyrics goodbye!"

"Well, in that case, let's get her out of there!" Jackie decided.

"Think she'll drive us home?" Kon started to whine. "We've done a lot of walking today…"

The others just rolled their eyes.

Tracy's car came out of the mall looking brand new. The front was covered with lip gloss, the wheels were shiny, and the sunroof had a pink headband over it.

"Rick's gonna love this headband!"

Kon charged toward Tracy's car and jumped on the hood, in an attempt to pin her down.

"Hit the road!" Tracy lifted up her hood and Kon went flying.

Jackie, Corey, and Laney stood in front of the car.

"Tracy, your soul is trapped in your car!" Jackie informed her sister. "We're going to get you out!"

"No way! Being a car is the best! I can cut any line at the mall and I can crush much more of people than just their spirits!"

Tracy's engine growled and Corey and Laney had terrified faces.

"Uh, Jacks?" Laney mumbled.

Kin jumped in front of Tracy's car and held up the spirit camera.

"Watch the birdie!"

"Wait!" Jackie stopped him. "You know Tracy, it's 50's night at the drive-in and since you're a car, you should go with Rick Salary! After all, nothing is more romantic than kissing in a drive-in!"

Tracy's hood popped up in excitement.

"Me and Rick kissing at the drive-in?! So yes!"

With that, the teenage car drove off to find the boy of her dreams.

"Why'd you let her go?" Kin asked Jackie.

"Because I think I know how we can get Tracy's soul out of her car and her lyrics out of her soul in one shot!"

"Nobody check on Kon!" Kon called from above. "I'm sure his ribs are fine!"

The four looked up and saw that the drummer had crashed against the mall wall.

"Oops…" Jackie muttered.

In another part of town, Rick Salary was admiring a car parked on the end of the street.

"Cool cars are Rick Salary's favorite kind of cars."

That's when Tracy's car crashed into the other one.

"Hey Rick!" Tracy opened her doors. "Hop in!"

"Girl car." Rick looked over the car and smiled. "Rick has a new favorite kind of car."

Tracy used her car's seatbelts to tie up the popular boy, pulled him in, and drove away.

**THIS COULD LEAD TO SOMETHING!**

Later that night, Jackie and Grojband were at the drive-in setting up for their gig. Movie-In-Your-Car Billy was on stage with them.

"Welcome to 50's night!" he greeted the audience. "My 50's style roller skate waitress quit today, so I'll be taking your orders myself!"

The middle-aged man tried using his roller-skates but ended up falling.

"Be patient…" he groaned.

Jackie looked out into the audience and saw plenty of familiar faces like Buster Newsworthy, Destiny Providence, and Mayor Swellow. There was also an old couple parked next to them.

"My, this brings back memories." The woman said.

Suddenly, Tracy's car bumped the old couple out of their spot.

"Times change somebody's grandma! Out of the way!"

Rick was chilling up front, letting his date do the driving.

"Way to score a prime spot girl car!"

Macy came up in her motorcycle with Tracy's sleeping body.

"Surprise BFF movie night!" Macy exclaimed. "I couldn't let the trip end with us ziplining. Popcorn's on me!"

The curly red-haired girl walked off. Kin watched the scene from the stage.

"Huh, Macy had Tracy's body this whole time! Good thing we didn't blast her soul out earlier."

"So, what's the plan Jacks?" Laney asked.

"It's simple Laney! Rick Salary gets weirded out because he's on a date with a car! Tracy will lose it and we'll blast her soul back into her body in time to diary up some lyrics!"

Corey looked over at the so-called couple.

"Uh, there may be a teeny tiny flaw in your plan Jacks."

Rick rubbed his seatbelt.

"Your seatbelts and airbags make me feel safe. And picking me up made me feel special."

Tracy giggled as Rick rubbed her seats.

"Hm…" Jackie beamed. "Don't worry! I got another idea!"

The brunette snuck over to where Tracy's car was parked and whispered something into Rick's ear.

"Rick's ear just had a great idea." Rick got out of the car. "It's 50's night, and nothing is more 50's than kissing in a drive-in."

"Kissing?! Kissing?!" Tracy honked and giggled.

Rick moved to the front and leaned in.

"Having a great night girl car."

"I can't believe it!" Tracy said to herself. "Finally!"

Unfortunately for her, she was so excited that her hood popped open and hit Rick in the face.

"Rick's had a change of heart…" the hunk fainted.

"Rick! Rick! No!" Tracy wailed. "My big chromy love was too heavy for you! I'M A METAL MONSTER!"

The female automobile burst into tears. Her windshield wipers turned on, trying to wipe the tears away but they kept coming. Jackie shrugged.

"Huh, I was thinking Tracy would go diary over finally kissing Rick…but this works too! Kin! Now!"

Kin jumped on top of Rick holding the spirit camera.

"Say limburger!"

The nerdy kid snapped a photo which made Tracy's soul leave her car. She slowly floated into the air, crying hard. She grabbed her diary and began to write flames inside of it. Tracy's crying was so loud that it made clouds form in the sky. Lightning struck the orb on Kin's necklace which made it break open. When Tracy's soul finished writing, she stopped crying and floated back into her body. Tracy's human form woke up and was shocked to see that she was back to normal. Macy came back carrying a big box of popcorn.

"I got extra butter for you!"

Corey caught the falling diary.

"Great." Laney grumped. "We've got lyrics, but now we can't use the machine to amp up our souls."

Corey looked through the diary. "Yeah, but this is full of pain and longing straight from the soul!"

Jackie came on stage and hugged Kin.

"Hey Kin. I just wanted to say good luck. I know you're going to sound great."

Kin hugged her back but he was feeling a little guilty. He wanted to tell Jackie the whole truth about the kiosk selling him the necklace that made his voice sound better and how he didn't deserve the solo at all. He then decided that he would tell her after the song because he didn't want to disappoint his friends. The four of them put on sunglasses and started the song.

_Corey: These old rusty eyes are crying for you_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: My love weighed too much then we were through_

_Corey: And now that you're gone it ain't no surprise_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: That I got some tears in my eyes_

_Kin: In these old rusty_

_Kon: In these old rusty_

_All: Eye, eye, eye, eyes_

_Corey: But I'll wipe em away, I'll lift my chin high_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: Wipe them away, hold it up high_

_Corey: Cause I'm here to stay though you say goodbye_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: You say goodbye, you say goodbye_

_Kin: Yeah, it's true_

_Kon: These eyes are_

_All: Shining like new!_

_Yeah!_

After the song finished, the crowd cheered and threw popcorn onstage. The band came down and sat in their own seats to watch the movie. All of them except Kin who was talking with Jackie.

"Kin! Your voice sounded awesome back there! You really can sing!"

Kin looked down. "No Jackie…I really can't…"

"What do you mean?"

"I have a confession to make. See, while you and the others were chasing Tracy's car, I stayed at the Quackery Shack and bought this tone necklace. It has an orb on it that contains the voice of a Rock God. That's what made my voice sound so awesome. I wanted to tell you sooner but I didn't wanna ruin everything with my terrible singing."

"So, that's why you were wearing that thing all the time?"

"Yeah, I-wait, you knew?"

"Well I noticed you were wearing a necklace when I saw that shiny thing on it get destroyed by Tracy's freakout."

Kin took off the necklace and gasped.

"The orb! It's gone! Now I'll never be a good singer!"

Jackie paused for a minute before she realized something.

"Wait a minute Kin! The necklace got ruined before you went onstage to sing!"

"So?"

"So that means the necklace had nothing to do with your singing! That beautiful voice was inside you all along!"

"What? Really?"

"Sure! All you really needed to do was be confident and believe in yourself!"

"Wow! Does this mean I'm the best singer ever?"

"Well…I don't know about the best…but look at it this way Kin. Even if you're not the best at singing, there's still lots of other things that you are the best at. You're the best at inventing, the best at playing keyboards, but most of all…" she hugged Kin tightly. "You're the best at being my friend."

Kin squealed and fainted. "Bless my soul, the love just keeps coming!"

Billy skated up to the other band members and handed them some popcorn.

"You guys was great! You wanna play my 60's night next week?"

Corey stood up and a spotlight shined on him.

"Thanks Movie-In-Your-Car Billy, but we're not really feeling it. There are just some things you shouldn't do with your car. Like date it, or let it kiss you. Times have changed and you can't go back! No matter how magic and weird your dream-catching soul camera is."

Kin sat down next to Kon.

"Man, I don't know why you wasted so much time with that toast!" Kon said. "There's nothing like popcorn!"

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Whew! That was a long one! The next one is gonna be long too, just warning you. See you all again soon!**


	34. Curse of the Werebeast

**Greetings fellow Grojfans! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's the last few weeks of school for me and it's been really overwhelming. Anyway, this next chapter is based off of an original scenario suggested by guest reviewer, Cristina correa, and she said:**

**"The band goes to a harvest moon fetisval, the twins had a rock lore about a temporary curse in tranquil town that turns into half human half animals. And they had to team up with the Newmans to do a gig."**

**So here it is! I had a hard time reading your review so sorry if it's not what you expected. **

* * *

**Chapter 34**

**Curse of the Werebeast**

It was the 15th day of the 8th lunar month in Tranquil Town. This day was one of the many holidays celebrated by the town citizens every year and it took place sometime before Halloween. It was actually a holiday very similar to Halloween but some said that it was even more popular. It was the day of the Harvest Moon Festival. Every year on this day, all of the town citizens gathered in the park to celebrate the full harvest moon. This year's celebration however, was going to be the best one yet or at least the most interesting one yet.

Jackie and Grojband arrived at the festival and gazed at all the decorations.

"Wow, Tranquil Town has outdone itself this year!" Jackie said. "Look at all these festivities!"

"Who cares about the festivities?" Kon replied with a full mouth. "These mooncakes are the best thing I've seen tonight!"

"Not for long Kon!" Corey claimed. "Because once we get on that stage, the only thing people will remember about tonight will be us!"

"I don't know if you'll be all everybody remembers Core." Jackie sat down and looked up at the full moon in the sky. "That moon is really pretty. The prettiest we've ever had!"

Kin scooted closer to the manager.

"I've seen prettier…"

"Look Core, this festival is cool and all, but if we're really gonna take all these people's minds off the moon, we need to have lyrics." Laney said.

"And we'll get em fella!" Corey poked Laney's nose. "In the meantime, let's just hang loose! The Harvest Moon festival only comes once a year you know."

"This lame festival may only come once a year, but Garbojband's music will never be heard again!"

Jackie and the band looked up and saw Tracy and Macy standing over them.

"Oh yeah? Says who?" Jackie remarked.

Tracy pointed on stage where Mayor Swellow was standing. "Says him!"

"Greetings Tranquilians! Welcome to Tranquil Town's annual Harvest Moon Festival! I am proud to present our band for this evening, The Newmans!"

"The Newmans?!" Grojband cried.

The Newmans did poses on the stage. Corey was in shock.

"But-but-but-"

"Guess who totally called Swellow and told him Grojband has the chicken pox? You guessed it!"

"Chicken pox?" Kin said. "But that chapter hasn't even happened yet!"

"Dude! Spoilers!" Kon reminded him.

"Sorry."

Jack Matterson came up to the group.

"Hey Tracy. Thanks again for making Grossband lose their gig." He shook Tracy's hand. "I owe you one."

"Like, don't worry about it! In fact you don't have to do anything! My real reward is watching my sister's stupid band get rejected in front of everybody!"

"Oh, really? Well, in that case maybe I should tell Rick to go home."

"You brought Rick Salary here?!" Tracy pushed Jack to the ground and ran away. "Rick! Rick, I'm coming!"

Macy helped her brother up.

"Is she that crazy about him?" he asked.

"Pretty much…" Macy went off to find Tracy.

Jackie couldn't believe what she heard.

"You told Tracy to tell Mayor Swellow that my band was sick?! That's low Matterson, even for you!"

"What can I say? That's just the way I play Matthews. But don't worry though. After the Newmans blow everybody away tonight, they won't miss your band. They won't even remember them…"

The brown-haired boy let out an evil laugh. The Newmans came off the stage and laughed with him. Their laughter continued as they walked away.

**EVIL LAUGH TRANSITION!**

Corey, Laney, and Kon were watching Kin comfort Jackie from a distance.

"Man, I've never seen Jacks so angry before." Corey noted.

Kin patted Jackie on the back.

"Breathe in, breathe out…"

"That stupid Matterson! He always ruins everything! I hate him so much! He just makes me so mad I could…grr…"

"Shh…it's okay. Let it go. Let it go."

"Kin! Everybody's tired of hearing that song!"

Kin stood up. "Okay, okay! I'll just leave you alone." He walked over to his bandmates.

"So, how is she?" Laney was concerned.

"Not so good. I think it's better that we give her some time to calm down. If she gets any angrier she could turn into…a werebeast!"

"What's a werebeast?" Corey asked.

"Rock Lore time!" the twins joined hands and started telling a story.

"One hundred years ago at the very first Tranquil Town harvest moon festival, a band known as The Metal Claws was waiting to perform."

"They'd been wanting to play their first night gig for a long time. But the mayor told them that they couldn't perform because their outfits would scare the children."

"It was then that the lead singer, Joey Wolffangs, let his rage take over him."

"He got so angry, that the full moon channeled his energy and turned him into a horrible monster!"

"Guys, that's ridiculous!" Laney exclaimed. "Jackie won't turn into a monster just because she's mad."

"Yeah, Lanes gets mad all the time and you never see her turn into a beast! Ow!" Corey was punched in the arm.

Jackie was still sitting by herself growling over what Jack did.

"What I would give to punch Matterson's face so hard that…" she took a deep breath. "Okay, maybe Kin's right. I just need to spend some time alone so I can blow off steam. Maybe a walk in Tranquil Forest will help."

The brunette stood up and walked into the forest.

Meanwhile, in Tranquil Town Zoo, two zookeepers were on a search for a missing animal.

"I'm telling you, it was here a minute ago!" one of them said. "I don't know how it got out!"

"It doesn't matter!" the other insisted. "If we don't find that wolf soon, it could attack the citizens! C'mon, let's go!"

When the zookeepers left, the escaped wolf peeked out from behind a bush and snuck into the woods, looking for its prey. The good news: Jackie was in a different part of the forest at the time. The bad news: the wolf soon got out of the forest and found the harvest moon festival. The members of Grojband were still talking amongst themselves and they didn't notice that Jackie was gone.

"All I'm saying is, a human turning into an animal when the moon is full is something they only show in the movies." Laney explained. "Therefore, it won't happen to-"

She was then interrupted by a wolf howl.

"What was that?" Kon shivered in fear.

"I'm not sure." Corey got scared as well. "Let's slowly and suspensefully look behind us and find out."

The gang did a slow and suspenseful turn around and screamed when they saw that Jackie was no longer there and instead there was a giant wolf!

"Where'd the wolf come from?!" Corey cried.

"Forget about the wolf! Where's Jackie?" Kin started to worry.

The wolf snarled at the group showing its sharp fangs. Kon looked up at the full moon and gasped for he now understood what was going on.

"It's happening! It's really happening!"

"What are you talking about?" Laney said.

Kon grabbed Laney by the shoulders and shook her rapidly.

"It's just like what happened to Joey Wolffangs! The full moon channeled Jackie's angry energy, and now she's turned into a werebeast!"

Laney shoved Kon off of her.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure that's not what's happening. Jackie's probably around somewhere looking and acting completely normal."

"Oh yeah sure! And that wolf probably just showed up out of the blue looking for a rock to sit on!"

"The wolf part is pretty weird Lanes." Corey agreed.

"Whatever! My theory still makes more sense than that old 'werebeast' story."

Kin started to cry.

"Oh Jackie! Why did you have to go like this? Why couldn't it have been me?!"

The wolf was about to attack Kin but he hugged it tightly.

"Jackie, if there's still some of you left inside this hideous monster, I want you to know that…I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU!"

The wolf had a confused look on its face. Kin sniffled.

"But don't worry. My feelings for you will never change no matter how ugly you look. In fact, I know how to make things better." Kin opened the wolf's mouth and put his head inside. "Take me Jackie! Go ahead! Dine on my tasty flesh! You don't even have to chew me up! As long as I'm inside of you, I'm a part of you!"

The wolf was about to devour Kin alive, but luckily, Kon swooped in to save him.

"Dude! Are you out of your mind?! If she bites you, you'll become a werebeast too!"

"I don't care!" Kin wailed. "At least then we can be savage animals together! I need to do this!"

The other band members held Kin back.

"Wait! Kin!" Corey exclaimed. "Instead of trying to turn yourself into a werebeast, why don't we just turn Jackie back into a human? Uh, there is a way to do that right?"

"Well, according to the legend, the only way a werebeast can become human again is if the full moon is hidden from its sight." Kin explained.

"So how do we cover up the moon?"

"Joey Wolffang's band mates played a powerful song that controlled the clouds." Kon continued. "Their lyrics were strong enough to block the moon's light and that's what made Joey turn back to normal."

"Perfect!" Corey cried. "So all we have to do is play a song that's powerful enough to block the moon's light and Jackie will be back to her old self!"

"There's still one problem Core." Laney interrupted. "We don't have lyrics, remember?"

The band heard giggling from behind them and dove into a bush. Corey grabbed the wolf by the tail and pulled it in with them. They all peeked out of their hiding spot and saw Tracy walking with Rick.

"Wow, I can't believe that you like this stupid, I mean, totally cool moon festival too!"

"Of course. Rick loves the moon. It's like the nighttime's very own sun."

Tracy giggled. "You know, I know a place in the Tranquil Forest where we can get an ultra-special view of the moon! Want me to show you?"

"Why not? Thanks Tracy Matthews. Rick can't wait to see it."

Rick walked ahead while Macy met up with her best friend.

"This is it Macy! Once Rick sees how gorgeous I look in the moonlight, he won't be able to resist a romantic moonlight kiss!" Tracy squealed.

"Ah-ha!" Corey exclaimed. "A moonlight kiss huh? Sounds like a diary-worthy case to me! We'll have our lyrics in no time!"

The wolf jumped up to bite Corey's arm but he quickly pulled it away.

"But first, we better do something about Jackie or we'll all end up like her!"

Meanwhile, back at the festival, Jack and the Newmans were busy prepping for their show.

"Nice job guys!" Jack gave a thumbs-up. "Everything looks great! I know you're gonna blow that huge crowd away tonight!"

"We have you to thank Jack!" Carrie said. "After all, if it wasn't for you, Grojbland would have taken the stage instead of us!"

"You're our hero Jack…" Kim was surrounded by hearts.

"I know, I get it. I'm awesome. But I do it all for you guys." Jack poked Kim's nose and she fainted. "And for ruining Matthews of course."

The manager checked his watch.

"Hm, well we still have a whole half hour before the show starts. I'm going to go take a brisk walk in the forest. See you guys later!"

Jack stepped off the stage and headed into the woods. The zookeepers were still frantically searching for the missing wolf.

"Did you check the shrubs?"

"Yep. It's not there either."

"Well it has to be here somewhere! Argh! This is all your fault! I leave you in charge of the zoo for one day and you let a dangerous wolf go missing!"

"Uh…actually, there are two that have gone missing."

"WHAT?!"

The minute Jack entered a part of the forest, the second escaped wolf came out of another. It spotted the Newmans on stage and licked its lips.

Carrie spotted Grojband tugging on the other wolf.

"What are they up to?" she snapped her fingers and the rest of the Newmans followed her. "Well, well, well! Look who couldn't stay away!"

"Hello Newmans…" Corey glared.

"Hit the road Riffin!" Carrie ordered. "This is our gig now and there's nothing you can do to change that! Anyway, why are you dragging around that furry, disgusting beast?"

"For your information, this 'furry disgusting beast' is our manager!" Kin wrapped his arms around the wolf's head. "Don't listen to her Jackie. You'll always be beautiful to me."

The Newmans glanced at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Are you kidding me?" Carrie guffawed. "You really can't tell the difference between an ugly wolf and your own manager?"

"I don't blame em Care." Larry responded. "There really isn't much of a difference!"

When Larry said this, Kin let out a long gasp and turned deep red.

"I'LL END YOU!" The kid in glasses pounced on top of the red-head.

"Hey get off! Ow! Stop it!"

"Look Beff, we don't have time for you and your band right now." Corey said. "We need to tie down Jackie so she doesn't escape while we get lyrics for a song to break the curse of the werebeast!"

"Curse of the werebeast?" Carrie snorted. "Wow Riffin, I've heard you say some dumb things before, but that tops them all!"

"Well it's true! Jackie got turned into a wolf after the full moon channeled her angry energy! And the only way to change her back is to play a song to make the full moon go away!"

"And you expect us to believe that story?"

"I believe it!" Konnie raised her hand.

"Quiet Konnie!"

"Sorry…"

Laney looked at the Newmans carefully, counting them one by one. Kin was still attacking Larry.

"Ow! Cut it out!"

"Take it back! Take it back!"

The female bassist then realized that one member was missing.

"Hey, wait a minute…where's Jack?"

"Why do you wanna know Penn?" Carrie glared.

"I just thought he would be helping you guys set up for what should have been our gig."

"He already finished." Kim informed them. "Jack is totally efficient that way. He can work twice as hard in an hour than Jackie could in a day!"

"Exactly!" Carrie nodded. "And since he finished so early, he went to go take a walk in the forest."

Kon shrieked. "Oh no! This is really bad!"

"What's he talking about?" Carrie asked.

"Guys, I totally just remembered something! Jack is Jackie's gender opposite! If Jackie is prone to horrible curses, then Jack is too! I bet right now, he's already turned into…" Kon gulped. "…a werebeast!"

"Ha! Yeah right!" Kim replied. "Jack may be the 'opposite' of Jackie, but he's way too cool to fall under some lame curse and junk!"

That's when the second wolf jumped out of its hiding place and landed right in front of the Newmans. They all screamed in terror. Kin stopped punching Larry and they both screamed with them.

"Another wolf?" Laney was in disbelief.

"See? Told ya!" Kon bragged.

"So, Jack has turned into a monster too?" Konnie guessed.

"Not so fast!" Carrie interrupted. "We've got no proof that this wolf is actually Jack!"

The first wolf saw the second wolf and growled at it. The second wolf snarled at the first and they started to attack each other. Corey and Carrie pulled them apart and tried to hold them back.

"Whoa! They can't stand each other!" Corey observed. "That's Jack all right!"

Kim was devastated.

"What? Jack, no!" she held onto the second wolf's head. "This can't be happening! I don't want you to be this way! I LOVE YOU!"

Kim started sobbing.

"Now what do we do Carrie?" Konnie said nervously.

"I can't believe I'm saying this…" Carrie began. "…but it looks like if we're gonna get our manager back, we have to work with Grojband!"

"WHAT?!" everyone else shouted.

"Grojband? Working with the Newmans?" Corey stood shocked. "That's unspeakable!"

"Trust me, I hate it more than you do." Carrie stated. "But in order to block the moonlight, we need a super megaly awesome jam! Who better to play it than us?"

Corey was offended. "You mean, who better to play it than _us_?"

"Our music is better Riffin!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"QUIET!" Kim hollered. "At this point it doesn't matter who plays the song! Jack needs our help! Why don't we just do the song together? That way our music will have twice the power to block the moon!"

"For once, she's right!" Kin continued. "I don't want Jackie to remain a werebeast forever! Let's do it!"

All eight joined hands.

"YEAH!"

**TWO BANDS WORKING TOGETHER!**

Grojband and the Newmans successfully tied 'Jackie' and 'Jack' to the stage so they wouldn't cause any more trouble.

"Okay, listen up!" Carrie announced. "Corey, you and your band can keep an eye on Jack and Jackie while I write lyrics for our song!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Corey interrupted. "Who put you in charge of this operation? Our manager got transformed first, so we should write the lyrics and you should stand guard!"

"Oh please!" the blue-haired girl rolled her eyes. "We're trying to write a good song here!"

"What's that supposed to mean? I can write better lyrics than you any day!"

"Prove it then!" Carrie handed Corey a pen and notepad. "Start writing."

The front man started sweating nervously.

"Who me? Write? Right now?"

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

There was an awkward pause amongst the group. Then Corey spoke again.

"Uh…we'll be right back."

He and the other members of Grojband ran off.

"Let me guess, we're going to find Tracy aren't we?" Laney groaned.

"Big time!"

Tracy and Rick were sitting on a rock in Tranquil Forest, looking up at the moon.

"Rick thinks the moon looks amazing at this angle."

Tracy stared at Rick dreamily.

"I can see something amazing at this angle."

Grojband watched the couple from behind a pair of trees.

"So, what's the plan Core?" Laney asked.

"Tracy's trying to get a romantic moonlight kiss from Rick Salary! If we can figure out a way to ruin their little moment, we'll have enough lyrics for a whole album!"

"That's great. But how do we ruin the kiss?"

Corey looked on the ground and picked up a giant leaf.

"Leaf that to me."

"Oh Rick, spending this harvest moon festival with you has been the greatest!" Tracy exclaimed. "I wish every night could be like this."

"Rick can understand how you feel Tracy Matthews."

"You can?"

Rick just smiled and looked into Tracy's eyes. Tracy puckered her lips and leaned in. Suddenly, the light from the moon disappeared.

"Hey! Like, what's going on? I can't see!" Tracy lost her balance and fell into the mud.

Corey had climbed to the top of a tree and used the giant leaf to block the moon's light for a brief moment. When the light came back, Rick saw that Tracy was covered in mud.

"Rick thinks that girls should stay out of mud puddles." He stood up and walked away. "Rick's going back to get some mooncakes."

"Wait! Rick!" Tracy called out. "Come back!"

The long-haired teenager scowled and looked up at the sky.

"This is all your fault you stupid moon! You're supposed to shine bright…FOR ME!"

Tracy shot up into the air surrounded by full moons. Her diary and pen floated into her hands and she began writing. Lightning struck the trees Grojband was hiding behind, turning them (the trees) into ashes. Tracy held out her burning pen and fell back into the mud puddle. Corey caught the diary.

"Got it! Let's go!"

The four headed back to the festival to find the Newmans. They were busy trying to stop the two wolves from attacking each other.

"We got the lyrics!" Corey declared. "Now we can play our new song and get our managers back!"

"Bout time!" Carrie said struggling to control 'Jack'.

"All right gang! Time to get lunar!"

The two bands started playing music together.

_Your light is too bright_

_Your shape is too thick_

_What have you done for me_

_Besides making me sick?_

_So with you I'm through_

_With you I'm done_

_Why can't you be like_

_Our loyal friend the sun?_

_Yow!_

_Go away moon_

_I'm gonna blast right through your craters_

_Go away moon_

_I don't care if I get haters_

_C'mon! Can't you see?_

_A planet you'll never be_

_Go away moon_

_And don't come back anytime soon_

_Whoo!_

Grojband and the Newmans' music sent a powerful magic blast to the clouds in the sky, causing them to move.

_Go away moon_

_You're rotten to your core_

_Go away moon_

_You're not my friend no more_

_I don't mean to pout and whine_

_But Neil Armstrong wasted his time_

_Go away moon_

_And don't come back anytime soon_

_Yeah, don't come back anytime soon!_

When the song finished, the clouds had completely covered up the full moon.

"We did it!" Corey cheered. "Now the curse of the werebeast is finally…broken?"

When the lead singer looked down, he was surprised to see that the wolves were still there. Kin and Kim gasped simultaneously before crying and hugging them.

"But…but the moon's been covered up! How are Jackie and Jack still wolves?!" Corey was very confused.

"Oh Jackie! I'm so sorry!" Kin sobbed. "I failed you!"

"This is all my fault!" Kim wiped a few tears from her eyes. "I should have gone into the woods with you! Jack please forgive me!"

"Kin, what are you doing?" a voice said from behind the young scientist.

"Kim, are you hugging a wolf?" another voice added.

The two keyboardists in glasses turned around and were overjoyed by what they saw.

"Jackie!"

"Jack!"

They both ran up to their managers and squeezed them tightly.

"You're back!"

"You're not a werebeast after all!"

"What in the world are you two going on about?" Jackie responded.

"Yeah, and what's with the wolves?" Jack pointed to them.

Before the wolves could devour the group of teens, two nets came down and captured them.

"Got em!" one of the zookeepers said.

"Finally! I thought we would be searching all night!" the other complained.

"Well, maybe if you didn't let them get loose, we wouldn't have had to!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on!" Laney joined their conversation. "What's going on here?"

"Oh yeah, see these two wolves got out of their cages at the Tranquil Town Zoo…" the first zookeeper explained. "We were hunting for them for hours!"

"So…they're real wolves?" Corey said.

"Yep!"

"They're not humans that are under an old-timey curse?"

"Of course not!" the second zookeeper shook his head. "Where did you hear that story?"

Everyone else looked at Kin and Kon.

"Okay, okay! So Rock Lore isn't always right!" Kin tried to defend himself. "But c'mon! It seemed plausible at the time!"

"So you're telling me that we spent all that time trying to break a stupid curse, and it turns out that there wasn't a curse to begin with?!" Carrie yelled.

"Curse? What curse?" Jack asked. "Can somebody please explain?"

"Of course Jack." Kim nodded. "You see-"

"We'll explain it on the way home!" Carrie pulled Kim off of Jack before going back to Grojband. "So long losers! See if we ever listen to your lame stories again!"

With that, Jack and the Newmans took their leave. Jackie looked over at her friends.

"So…would you guys mind telling me what happened while I was gone? Like maybe try explaining this curse everybody is talking about?"

"Well Jacks, it's a little something like this…" a spotlight shined over Corey. "Curses may seem artificial, and most of the time they are. But that's no reason to not believe in them. After all, some curses may affect the way you look, but others can just change who you are as a person…"

"That didn't really answer my question Corey." Jackie said.

"Well Jacks, if you wanna learn something, you gotta be a-were!" Corey joked. "Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**Chapter update: I only have ONE more suggestion to fill for future chapters and hopefully it shouldn't take long for me to write. I will let you know when I am done with it so you guys can give me more suggestions (original or non-original). See you soon! Sorry that Jackie wasn't in this chapter that much. **


	35. Trading Places

**Hey what's up guys? Long time no see! So glad summer vacation is almost here, school has been rough for me. Before you read this new update, first let me say how proud I am of all of you for being so patient these past few weeks. You have no idea how good it feels to check your email without getting a single review that reads: "update now" or "we want more" or something like that. Also, I'm thinking about adding a cover image to this story so let me know if that's something you all would like. Anyway, this next original scenario was requested by Madison Wooten and she said:**

**"This completely goes against my instincts but I was wondering if you could do a body swap chapter. Maybe one of Kin's machines backfires and everyone in the band ( minus Corey ) swaps bodies. Kin and Kon swap and Laney and Jackie swap. I know I said I wouldn't do anymore requests but I just wanted to do this so badly. Anyone needs me, I'll be in the corner of shame. *Walks to corner of shame*"**

**And stay there until you learn not to overload me with original scenarios! Ha, ha! I'm just kidding. This was fun to write and I hope you like reading it. Oh, one more thing. Some of you may know an author by the name of StarHeart Specials and just recently, he/she made a Soulin Down the Road remake that was surprisingly similar to this chapter. Let it be known that I wrote this long before I read the remake so please don't think I copied StarHeart's story or he/she copied me. And if you haven't read anything by StarHeart Specials, I recommend checking his/her stories out. Recently, he/she made a Super Zeroes remake which was also very well done. Okay I'm done talking so you can read Chapter 35 now. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 35**

**Trading Places**

It was Sunday in Tranquil Town. Jackie, Laney, Kin, and Kon were all sitting on the couch watching an old black-and-white movie on TV.

"Oh Arthur! My life was never this exciting until the two of us switched brains! So far, I haven't had one single regret."

"Nor have I Diane. However, there's still one thing that I feel has changed."

"What's that Arthur?"

"How much I love you even more."

"Oh Arthur! It's about time you said something! I love you too! And I suppose since we're going to be stuck in each other's bodies for some time now, we might as well be together. What shall we do first?"

"I know the first thing that I'm going to do."

The couple in the movie kissed passionately and a caption on screen read: "The End".

"Wow…" Laney spoke after a few seconds. "That was…interesting…"

"I didn't even understand that movie." Jackie claimed. "So that couple switched brains with each other and they actually ended up loving each other more than they used to?"

The girls heard loud sobbing next to them. They turned to their left and saw Kon crying.

"It's so beautiful! Love at its finest!" the drummer blew his nose.

"So, what'd you think Kin?" Jackie asked but no one answered. "Kin?"

The boy in glasses sat still, his eyes staring right at the TV. He was forming an idea in his head. He pictured Jackie and himself in the same scene from the movie, holding each other in their arms.

"_Oh Kin…how could I have not seen how adorable your body is on the outside? At least now I know how sweet and suave it is on the inside."_

_"Same with yours my dear. Same with yours."_

When the fantasy Kin kissed Jackie, the real-life Kin had his eyes closed and his lips puckered toward Kon. Kon hit his brother on the head with his tissue box to snap him out of it.

"Ow!"

"Dude! Seriously? I'm your brother! Don't get any ideas."

"Are you okay Kin?"

Kin looked at Jackie's concerned face and became flustered.

"I-I-I…" he stuttered for a moment. "I-I-I gotta go!"

With that said, the scientist/keyboardist ran out of the garage.

"What's his problem?" Laney wondered.

"He's probably just going to a private place to cry because…" Kon sobbed. "That movie was so emotional!"

But Kon was wrong. Kin really was looking for someplace to be alone, but it certainly wasn't so he could cry. He had come up with another plan to make Jackie fall in love with him. And this time, he was going to have to invent something to make it happen.

A few hours later, Kin came back into the garage pushing something under a huge white sheet.

"Well, it's finally done!" he announced.

Jackie stood up from her seat. "That's great Kin…uh…what's done exactly?"

Kin pulled off the white sheet revealing his newest invention.

"Ta-da! I present to you, the Switch-O-Matic 5000! Pretty cool, isn't it?"

Laney got a good look at the strange machine.

"I guess…" she mumbled. "So, what does it do Kin?"

"Glad you asked Laney! It's very simple!" Kin gestured to the two chambers on the machine. "Two or more people enter these doors, provided that there's at least one person in each one. Then, using the power of technology, the machine makes the people inside of it swap bodies! How awesome is that?"

Jackie just shrugged. "It's a great invention Kin…but what use do we have for a machine that switches bodies?"

"All in good time my lady…" Kin was surrounded by hearts. "All in good time…"

"Wait, what?"

Kin quickly changed his tone.

"So…" he cleared his throat. "Who wants to help me test this thing for the first time?"

The girls stood still with their arms crossed while Kon jumped up and down and waved his arm in the air. But Kin chose to ignore this.

"Anyone? Anyone? Jackie, how about you?"

"I don't know Kin. I-"

But Kin wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He grabbed the brunette's hand and pulled her onto the stage.

"Great! Come on up!"

"Kin, this doesn't sound safe." Jackie tried to protest while Kin pushed her into one of the chambers.

"Trust me! Everything will be fine." he went over to the controls and started talking to himself. "In fact, once I'm in your body, everything will be just wonderful."

The young scientist stepped into the other chamber, ready to put his plan into action. Kon, meanwhile, was full of anticipation.

"This is so exciting! I wanna have my body swapped too! C'mon Laney!" he grabbed Laney's hand and dragged her onto the stage.

"Kon! Let go of me!" Laney demanded.

Kon wasn't listening though and he threw the red-head inside the chamber with Kin.

"Huh?" Kin was shocked.

Kon ran into the other chamber where Jackie was standing and the doors automatically shut. Kin panicked and started pounding on them.

"Wait! Stop! This isn't right!"

But it was too late. The machine had already started operating and then…

**BOOM!**

The machine exploded, releasing a huge cloud of smoke. The four friends tumbled out of the broken machine dizzily. Laney stood up and grabbed what she thought was Kon by his shirt collar.

"Listen to me Kon! Don't you ever do that to me again or else!"

"Jackie! I'm so sorry!" 'Kon' wailed. "That wasn't what I wanted at-wait…did you just call me Kon?"

"Did you just call me Jackie?"

"Of course! That's who you are isn't it?"

"No! I'm Laney! Jackie is over-" Laney turned to her right and saw Kin sitting next to her body! "W-W-What?!"

"Whoa! I don't know why, but I feel as if half of my normal body mass is gone!" Kon observed. "And it feels amazing!"

"Kin, why are you talking differently, and why am I-" Jackie gasped when she looked at her reflection on Kin's machine. Instead of her long brown locks, her hair was short and red and had a yellow hair clip in it. Instead of brown eyes, her eyes were now green. She had on black eye shadow, a green and black striped shirt with yellow sleeves, red pants, black boots, and her entire body resembled one of a cartoon! Jackie couldn't believe it. She was inside Laney's body!

"What's going on? It's like I've been teleported out of my own body!"

The others looked at their own reflections and were surprised to see that they didn't look like themselves either.

"The Switch-O-Matic…" Kin noted from inside of Kon's body. "It works! It made us all swap bodies with each other! I'm in Kon's body, Jackie is in Laney's body, Laney is in Jackie's and Kon is in mine!"

"Awesome!" Kon cried. "I've always wanted to see what being skinny was like!"

Kon did several cartwheels in Kin's body.

"Whoa! I've never been able to do that before! This is the greatest day of my life!"

"Sorry Kon. You can't stay in my body forever." Kin said. "We need to get back into our own bodies before something bad happens and we'll never be able to switch back!"

"Uh, Kin? What would you say if I told you that that 'something' has already happened?" Jackie pointed to the machine.

"Oh no!" Kin panicked. "The Switch-O-Matic is totally busted! That means…we'll be stuck in each other's bodies forever!"

"Well, this isn't going to be easy to explain to Corey…" Laney replied.

As if on cue, Corey came into the garage.

"Guys! Look what I just-" he stopped when he noticed the massive pile of metal on the stage. "Uh…what's going on here?"

The other four gave each other nervous glances.

"Uh, would you excuse us for a minute Corey?" Kin requested.

They all got into a huddle.

"Guys, we can't let Corey know what happened! If he does, he's gonna have another one of his freakouts!"

"So what can we do Kin?" Jackie asked.

"We'll just have to act like we're still ourselves while Corey's around and wait for him to leave. Until then, just be subtle. Everybody got that?"

"No problem!" Kon squeezed Jackie's body into a hug. "Jackie I love you!"

Kin facepalmed and pulled Kon aside. "I said be subtle!"

"What? That's how you normally are around her. You don't want Corey to be suspicious do you?"

Kin just groaned.

"Guys? Is everything okay?"

The twins looked behind them and saw Corey looking concerned.

"Oh yeah…we're-" Kin cleared his throat and made his voice deeper. "Yeah, we're awesome Corey!"

"So, what were you saying earlier?" Laney asked.

"Oh yeah!" Corey pulled out a poster. "I booked us a gig at Tranquil Town's most exclusive club, the Heartbeat! Grojband is going to bring all those couples together!"

Laney nudged Jackie, hinting at her to say something.

"What? Oh! Right!" Jackie stepped forward in her new body. "That's great Core. But what are we going to do about lyrics? We can't just play any old song at the Heartbeat!"

Corey put an arm around what he thought was Laney.

"Well Lanes, it just so happens that Tracy is already going to be there! Apparently she and Rick Salary are going on a date tonight, so all we have to do is sit back and let the lyrics come to us! Pack up the gear gang! We're about to make history!"

When Corey walked away, the other band members got back into a huddle.

"Kin, we can't keep this up forever!" Laney claimed. "Corey's gonna figure everything out when we get on stage and can't play each other's instruments!"

"She's right Kin." Jackie agreed. "I can't play the bass. Do you think maybe you could fix the Switch-O…whatever it's called before the show?"

"I can try. But it might take me a while now that I have these big greasy hands. No offense Kon."

"None taken bro."

"Okay." Jackie decided. "But until then we should act natural. Let's go!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Tracy and Macy were inside the Heartbeat, frantically searching the dance floor.

"Argh! Where's Rick?" Tracy cried. "He was supposed to be here five whole seconds ago! What if he's forgotten about our date?"

"Oh Tracy, he would never forget about you!" Macy insisted. "He's probably coming inside right now!"

Tracy grabbed Macy by her shirt collar.

"Nice try Macy! But if Rick was just getting here, we would know because girls would be screaming!"

"EEEEEE!"

"Rick!" Tracy dropped Macy and zoomed toward the front of the building.

Sure enough, Rick was standing near the door signing autographs. Tracy shoved away a blonde girl who was talking to him and faced the others.

"BACK OFF! FIND YOUR OWN HUNK!"

The other girls reluctantly backed away.

"Hey Rick. So glad you could make it and everything."

"Rick would never pass up the opportunity to go dancing." Rick took Tracy's hand and led her to the dance floor while Tracy giggled.

Jackie and Grojband were already there (they snuck in through the back so Tracy wouldn't see them and try to ruin everything). Corey peeked out from behind the stage curtain and saw tons of couples dancing together, including Tracy and Rick.

"Tracy's right outside you guys! Get ready for a love-filled diary explosion!" he turned around and saw that his friends were in yet another huddle. "Guys?"

The four broke up and gave the front man innocent smiles.

"Seriously, you guys have been acting weird all day! What's going on?"

"Why Corey, what makes you think we're acting weird?" Laney tried to sound like Jackie.

"Well for one thing, you keep getting into huddles and don't even ask me to join."

Kin rubbed his (Kon's) hand on his neck.

"Well dude, you see-"

"And you're dragging around a bunch of broken metal." Corey pointed to a wagon where Kin's broken machine was lying in.

"Uh…"

"And to top it all off, Kin hasn't given Jackie any compliments all day!"

Kin pulled Kon aside so he could talk with him privately.

"He's on to us! Why haven't you said anything nice to Jackie? That's not like me!"

"You never told me to do anything like that!"

"Never mind! Just go up to 'Jackie' and give her a compliment."

"Well, what do I say?"

"Just say something about her hair or eyes or something. You know, compare em to something that you like. Got it?"

"Oh, okay!" Kon walked up to 'Jackie' and cleared his throat. "Jackie, your hair is like a mud puddle. I wanna play in it all day!"

Kin facepalmed again.

"You're really lucky that I'm not actually Jackie." Laney said.

"Ah-ha!" Corey heard her. "I knew it! You're not really Jackie! You're an imposter!" he grabbed 'Jackie' by the collar. "Who are you and what have you done with our manager?"

"Corey! Stop! I'm over here!" Jackie called from Laney's body.

"Lanes?" Corey grabbed Laney's body. "Why do you have Jackie's voice all of a sudden?"

"Well uh…" Jackie paused. "Okay Core, this may sound hard to believe but…I am Jackie."

"Huh?"

"I'm stuck in Laney's body. And Laney's in my body. And Kin and Kon are in each other's body."

Corey glanced at the twins and they waved at him.

"But-how-wha?"

"It's a long story Core." Kin chuckled nervously. "See, one of my inventions-"

"That explains it." Corey interrupted. "Thanks Kin."

Kin glared in response.

"Wait, you're not upset?" Jackie asked.

"Why would I be? In fact, it's actually kinda cool."

"Oh good!" Kon smiled. "Cause we thought you would freak out since we've got a song to perform and none of us know how to play each other's instruments."

Corey became terrified.

"Oh my gosh! I totally didn't think of that! We're doomed! We'll never play in this town again! MY LIFE IS OVER!"

"Nice going Kon." Laney replied sarcastically.

"Core! Calm down!" Kin reassured the leader. "I just need some time to fix the Switch-O-Matic and then we can all get back inside our own bodies."

"But Kin, the gig's in ten minutes and who knows how long it'll take you to fix the machine?" Jackie pointed out.

"No problem Jackie! I just remembered, we have the power of storytelling on our side! Miss Author? Could we have a transition please?"

**WE ARE SPEEDING UP TIME!**

"Wow, that didn't take long at all!" Corey commented. "Nice job Kin!"

Kin shrugged. "What can I say? I'm still awesome even when I'm not in my own body!"

…You're welcome guys.

"Now we just need to test it to make sure it works."

"How Kin?" Jackie questioned.

"And even if it does work, we still need lyrics for our gig!" Laney reminded them.

Corey scratched his chin and then a light bulb appeared over his head.

"And I think I know a way we can solve both of those problems at once! Be right back!"

The beanie-wearing kid ran off while the others stood still, not having a clue as to what he was planning.

Tracy was still out on the dance floor with Rick when she spotted a sign with an arrow on it that pointed backstage. She read the sign aloud.

"'Want to make your date your new boyfriend? This way!'" Tracy squealed. "That's totes what I need! Uh, hey Rick? Would you mind taking a break from dancing for a while?"

Rick stopped dancing and Tracy dragged him backstage, giggling. The first thing she saw was the Switch-O-Matic with a sign over it that read 'Love Chamber'.

"EEEE! Love Chamber?! It's totally perfect for us, right Rick?"

"Rick is somewhat suspicious about this machine being put in a dark, quiet area."

Tracy wasn't listening though and she shoved the hunk into one of the chambers, trapping him inside. Then she got into the other chamber.

"Now!" Corey whispered to Kin.

Kin came out of his hiding spot and pressed the machine's activation button. This time, the Switch-O-Matic didn't malfunction and Tracy and Rick successfully switched bodies. Corey set up two mirrors in front of the machine. Rick came out of the chamber and looked at his reflection.

"Whoa. Rick's confused as to how he got longer hair and nail polish."

Tracy looked in her mirror and gasped.

"OMG! I can't believe it!" she put a hand to the glass. "Short black hair, sparkling blue eyes, adorable jacket?! I look like Rick…" she gasped. "I am Rick! Best…makeover…EVER!"

Tracy shot up into the air surrounded by hearts, for she was going into her Love Diary Mode. She used her new hands to write hearts inside her diary. Pink heart clouds appeared over the building. When Tracy finished, she fell back into the machine and Kin switched her and Rick back. Corey caught her diary.

"All right! Lyrics! Just in time! Okay guys! Time to switch it up!"

Kin pressed another button ejecting Tracy and Rick. The two of them were shot back onto the dance floor, Tracy still in a love-struck trance. Then Jackie, Laney, Kin, and Kon entered the Switch-O-Matic once again and Corey pressed the activation button, putting them all back in their proper bodies.

"Now that's more like it!" Laney exclaimed before all five of them gave each other high-fives.

"Everybody, let's welcome our newest act…Grojband!" an announcer said over the mic.

"C'mon guys! We're on!" Corey picked up his guitar. "Let's rock!"

Laney, Kin, and Kon grabbed their instruments and joined Corey on stage. The band started playing.

_It's been a long time_

_Since I first got you on my mind_

_But you never seemed to notice me_

_You didn't have a clue_

_Then when I looked in my mirror, I was surprised_

_To see your shiny hair and blue eyes_

_And suddenly, it was then that I knew_

_I was inside of you_

_Ooh-ooh_

_It was too good to be true_

_I was inside of you_

_And I want you to understand_

_That every time I hold your hand_

_I imagine that way deep down_

_You love me too_

_I still cannot believe_

_I was inside of you_

_And now I'll never be blue_

_I was inside of you!_

Everyone on the dance floor cheered as Corey strummed the final chord on his guitar.

Later, the gang returned to the garage, happy to have everything back to the way it was before.

"Boy, I'm sure glad this whole body-swapping mess is over." Laney sighed with relief.

"Me too." Kin nodded. "Even if I did never fulfill my dream of switching bodies with Jackie and having her fall in love with me just like that couple in that old movie did, I think I'm done with that kind of science."

"What was that Kin?"

Kin saw Jackie behind him and blushed.

"Oh nothing!"

"I'm glad I got my old body back too." Kon said. "But I'm really gonna miss being able to do perfect cartwheels."

"Well guys, it just goes to show you how hard it is to keep someone else's identity." Corey gained a spotlight. "It's fun to pretend you're someone else and take all the credit for everything they did. After all, it may be better than going through your own life. But sooner or later, the truth will come out and everyone will see through your horrible lies. It's better to switch yourself back before things really get out of hand. Thanks for coming out everyone!"

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**Okay, I really hate to end on a bad note, but I wanted you guys to know that I don't have a computer available right now so I can't write any new chapters. But the good news is I have two chapters already done and saved in my doc manager so I should get those up pretty soon. Always, keep checking for updates!**


	36. The Jam Session

**Hey guys! So glad that summer is finally here! So here's sort of a summer chapter to celebrate this glorious season! It's based off the episode "That's My Jam" requested by AvrilLavigneFan2001.**

* * *

**Chapter 36**

**The Jam Session**

It was summertime in Tranquil Town and Jackie and Grojband were chilling out in the garage. Kin and Kon were sitting on the couch throwing blueberries at the dartboard on the wall. Jackie and Laney watched from behind.

"What are you doing?" Jackie asked them.

"Testing blueberries." Kin explained. "The good ones don't splat."

"But you're just wasting fruit." Laney claimed.

"YOU'RE WASTING FRUIT!" Kon yelled causing the girls to jump.

"Hey there fruit fans!" an announcer said over the radio in the garage. "Loud Fred here, and it's time to put your fruit to use!"

Corey zipped up to the radio and listened.

"There's a jam contest in the Tranquil Town Fairground today! It's the tasty CJFN Summer Jam Jam!"

"Guys!" Corey gasped excitedly. "Did you hear that? They're having a jam contest! Who better to win a jam contest than a band? We jam all the time!"

"Actually Core-" Jackie tried to say but Corey interrupted her.

"They always interview the winner on the radio. When Loud Fred asks us how it feels to have this summer's hot new jam, we'll rock out with a hot summer jam!"

"But Corey, they're talking about fruit jam." Jackie corrected the lead singer. "As in the stuff you spread on bread or toast! You can't make that with music."

Kin and Kon joined them.

"That's where you're wrong my good lady." Kin opened up a book. "The Rock Lore cookbook has a recipe for the perfect jam!"

"And we know how to pick blueberries!" Kon flicked a blueberry at Laney and it splatted all over her face.

"Grr…" Laney scowled.

"Not that one…" Kon smiled nervously.

Meanwhile on the other side of the house, Tracy and Macy were hanging out in Tracy's room. Macy's phone had just received a message.

"Tracy! Rick Salary just bleated that he's going to be judging this summer's Summer Jam Jam!"

"OMJ!" Tracy cried. "If I win that jam contest, hunky Rick will be all sweet on me! And we can savor the fruits of my labor!"

"What kind of jam do you wanna make?"

"Oh I have a recipe. Step 1: Have Macy make whatever-berry jam…" Tracy grabbed Macy by the collar and screamed. "CAUSE I DON'T CARE! AS LONG AS IT WINS!"

**WHATEVER-BERRY JAM!**

Grojband had just started boiling their jam for the competition. Kin was stirring it up and Corey was reading off the list of ingredients.

"Let's see…we've got water…two tons of berries…vanilla extract and…a tablespoon of love? Where are we supposed to get that?"

"I'm pretty sure it's not something that you can physically measure Core." Laney responded.

"Wow Kin!" Jackie commented. "I gotta say, you really know how to cook up some good-looking jam!"

Kin gave a high-pitched squeal and hearts popped out of him. Kon held out a tablespoon to catch the hearts and then poured them in the cauldron.

"Care to retract that statement Laney?" he asked.

Corey kept reading.

"Okay, it says here that the final ingredient is…the jam! Let's blast it with our music guys!"

They all pulled out their instruments and started playing. Jackie watched as the notes flew into the cauldron.

"Wow, making jam is easy!"

Just then, the garage door opened and Tracy came in.

"You jelly-heads couldn't make toe jam!"

"Well for your info, our toe jam is gonna win this summer's Summer Jam Jam!" Jackie remarked.

Tracy picked up an amp and held it over her head.

"Yeah no…"

The mean teen threw the amp into the concoction.

"Hey!" Jackie exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"There's only room for one of me to win the Jam Jam!" Tracy explained. "And not enough Rick Salary to go around."

Laney noticed that the jam was starting to bubble.

"Uh…guys? That jelly's got some jiggle!"

Suddenly, a fuchsia colored blob emerged from the cauldron, causing everyone to scream. Jackie and Tracy hid in a corner, shaking with fear.

"Kin! What's going on?!" Jackie shivered.

Kin took a look at the recipe.

"Huh. Pushing the amp in and making the jam come to life was the next step in the recipe." He showed his crush the book. "See?"

Kon stuck his finger in the jam and tasted it.

"Hey! This little guy tastes great!"

The other five tried the jam as well.

"Tasty and alive!" Kin observed. "Pretty sure that'll give us an edge!"

"Mmm!" Jackie smiled blissfully. "We're sure to win the jam contest now!"

Tracy glared at all of them. "You mean 'Mmm! _I'm _sure to win'!"

Jackie grabbed one of the jam's arms and Tracy grabbed the other.

"We made him! He's ours!" Jackie tugged on the arm she was holding.

"And I tried to ruin him by shoving the amp inside that made him alive instead! He's mine!" Tracy tugged even harder.

The two sisters continued tugging on the living jam until he couldn't take it anymore.

"No yell!" the jam said. "Jammy choose!"

"He can talk?!" Jackie was surprised.

"Ugh!" Tracy groaned. "Is he gonna scream when I spread him all over toast and junk?"

"Don't even think about it! He's too cute to eat!"

"He's my jam so I can do whatever I want with him!"

"He is not!"

"Guys!" Laney broke the girls up. "Didn't you hear him? He wants to choose whose jam he is. I'd want the same if I were jam."

"Well this is a no-brainer!" Jackie said to her band. "Who wouldn't wanna be friends with you guys? Let's hang out with Jammy and show him that our warm friendly hearts are better than that cold hate potato in Tracy's chest! He'll pick us for sure!"

"Oh yeah?" Laney remarked. "Then where is he?"

Jackie looked behind her and saw that Jammy was gone.

"Jammy?"

As it turns out, Tracy had taken Jammy to her room and Macy was giving him a makeover.

"When you're Tracy's jam, you'll be styled, pampered, and popular!" Tracy claimed. "All the other jams will be so jelly!"

Jammy looked into a mirror and smiled.

"Jammy pretty…"

"Stick with me Tracy's Jam and you'll always be pretty!"

"And bored!" Corey came in, snatched Jammy away, and he and the others took him to the mall.

Jammy went up to a store owner.

"Jammy say…roar!"

"Eeek!" the owner shrieked and ran away. "A blob monster!"

Corey, Kin, and Kon laughed.

"Told you we'd have fun!" Corey said to Jammy.

But Jammy was sad.

"Jammy not monster…Jammy pretty…"

"You boys and your stupid pranks!" Jackie scolded. "Can't you see that Jammy doesn't want to be portrayed as a monster? Let's think…there must be something else we can do to have fun."

But before the brunette could think of anything, Jammy was taken away by none other than Tracy. The long-haired teen put the dark pink jelly inside a special jar with a heart on it.

"Jammy like…"

"You'll have the best jar at the contest!" Tracy promised. "My treat!"

Jackie snuck over and took Jammy out of his jar. She and the band decided to take Jammy to the park. But when they got there, Jammy wasn't having any fun.

"Jammy miss new jar…" he sighed.

"Tracy's trying to spoil Jammy you guys!" Jackie told her friends. "And spoiled is the last thing a jam should be!"

"But how do we compete with gifts Jacks?" Laney asked.

"Friendship is a gift Laney! We'll win Jammy over by giving him the one thing Tracy can never give him….fun!"

So Jackie and Grojband took Jammy to do all sorts of fun things with them. They thought for sure that Jammy would like them then, but all of their fun activities were either boring to Jammy or made him get hurt. Each time they failed to make Jammy happy, Tracy took him away and gave him something that did make him happy. After another failed attempt, the gang returned to the garage.

"Jammy no more splat…" Jammy whined.

"So you didn't like bungee jumping." Jackie shrugged. "But I bet you're gonna love waterski shark jumping!"

Jammy screamed and ran away.

"Look Jacks, I know you're trying to show Jammy a good time, but you're pushing too hard." Laney insisted.

"Maybe you're right Laney." Jackie sighed. "I just really want us to win this Jam Jam. But Jammy has no reason to pick us."

"Don't worry Jacks." Corey picked up his guitar and started strumming. "We'll think of something."

Then, all of a sudden, the five friends heard the sound of another guitar. They looked behind them and they saw that it was Jammy playing on his own instrument! Jammy giggled.

"Jammy like jamming!"

"Of course!" Corey snapped his fingers. "You're made of music! Jammy, if you pick us, you can help jam out a cool new tune that'll make a lot of people really happy today!"

Tracy came into the garage holding her car keys.

"Making people happy is what firemen do! And they're tired all the time! C'mon Tracy's Jam! I'll give you a ride to the contest! Something else Jackie and her lame band can't do!"

When Jammy saw Tracy's car, he dropped his guitar and ran off. Jackie looked down sadly.

**SPLATTY SPLAT TRANSITION!**

Tracy and Jammy arrived at the Summer Jam Jam in Tracy's car.

"Being my jam makes you super popular!" Tracy stuck her head out the car window. "EVERYONE LOVE MY JAM!"

A crowd of screaming girls rushed over and started snapping pictures of Jammy.

"Be my BFF Jammy!" Tracy persuaded. "You'll get seen!"

Just then, Rick Salary walked by holding a jar of peanut butter.

"Hey Rick!" Tracy picked up Jammy and showed him to her crush. "Here's the sweet jam I made to win the Jam Jam!"

"Cool." Rick smiled. "Can't wait to judge that jam."

As Rick walked away, Tracy held her right hand over her heart and waved her left hand in front of her face. Jammy spotted the peanut butter in Rick's hand and copied Tracy.

"Jammy love…"

"Tracy love too!" she pointed to Rick. "That's the prize if we win! So pick me already!"

Jackie and Grojband entered the scene and saw the huge line of girls waiting to get their picture taken with Jammy.

"Great." Laney rolled her eyes. "Tracy made Jammy popular too. We're toast."

Jammy came over and strummed a note on Corey's guitar.

"Jam!" he giggled.

"Jammy! We can jam together if you pick us!" Corey whispered to the others. "Don't worry guys! We still got a chance!"

**DRIPPY JAM TRANSITION!**

A few minutes later, the Summer Jam Jam was about to start. Jackie and Tracy were onstage with Jammy, waving to the crowd. An old lady was next to them holding her own jam and Rick was sitting at the judge's table.

"Welcome to the Tranquil Town Summer Jam Jam!" Loud Fred said through a radio. "Let me introduce our 65 time defending champion and her doily-berry jam…Barbara! And the only challenger with the guts to challenge her, two girls with a jam that walks and talks?! That's cray-cray! And your jam judge, hunky Rick Salary!"

Barbara handed her jam jar to Rick.

"As a sweet undefeated champion old lady, I'll go first!"

Rick stuck his spoon in the jar and tasted the jam.

"Rick's never tasted better jam!"

Barbara stepped offstage while giving Jackie and Tracy a competitive smile.

"I sweeten it with a grandma's love!"

"Aw man!" Kon complained from the audience. "No fair! All we had in ours was a dork's love!"

Kin giggled creepily as he stared up at Jackie. The Matthews sisters stepped up to the table and Rick stuck his spoon inside of Jammy. Jammy giggled.

"Jammy tickle!"

"Rick thinks this is weirder than sushi…" he tasted the jam. "But Rick's mouth feels like it won the lottery! This mystery jam is the winner!"

Jackie and Tracy gasped excitedly and hugged Jammy tightly. Barbara angrily smashed her jam jar on the ground before walking away in defeat.

"Only one of you gets the winner's ribbon!" Loud Fred reminded the girls. "Whose jam is this?"

Tracy pulled Jammy aside.

"You're my jam!" she yelled. "I gave you gifts, I made you popular, and now I made you a winner! You owe me! Make me impress Rick!"

Jackie took Jammy away from her demanding sister.

"Don't rush him! Sorry I was so pushy Jammy. I wanted you to choose us so my band could jam. But I should have been nicer. I'll understand if you wanna pick Tracy."

Jammy looked back at the older girl who was smiling in anticipation. Then he looked back at Grojband. Then back at Tracy. Then back at Grojband. Then back at Tracy.

"Hurry up and pick me!" Tracy commanded.

"It's okay Jammy." Jackie encouraged the pink blob. "No matter who you choose, we'll still be friends."

Jammy smiled for he had made his decision.

"Jammy Grojband's jam!"

Jackie and the gang all gave Jammy a group hug.

"Rickgratulations!" Rick pinned the first place ribbon on Jackie's shirt. "And now, for a special winner's hug."

Jackie wrapped her arms around the popular boy. She saw that Tracy was about to throw another one of her temper tantrums.

"That's my hug!" Tracy pointed a finger at Jackie. "AND THAT'S MY JAM!"

The teenager screamed and blasted into the air surrounded by jars of jam. Her diary and pen floated up to her and she started writing flames across the pages. This caused Tranquil Falls to blast out water and Mount Tranquility to erupt (despite not being a volcano). Tracy then finished writing and returned to normal. Her diary fell into Corey's hand.

"Jackie Matthews!" Loud Fred announced. "How does it feel to have this summer's hot new jam?"

"Well Loud Fred, I'll let my band tell you!"

Grojband started playing a new song.

_Corey: Spread the news around_

_There's a brand new sound_

_And it's all for me_

_When I hear that beat_

_It makes me move my feet_

_You'll be moving too_

_Just wait and see_

_When you ask me_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: What's that dude?_

_Corey: This is what I'll say to you_

_All: That's my jam_

_That's my jam_

_Corey: I know you like it sir_

_And I know you like it ma'am but_

_All: That's my jam_

_That's my jam_

_Corey: Can't take it away_

_Cause jammin's what I am_

_Spread the news around_

_There's a brand new sound_

_And it will never go away_

_All: When I hear it, when I feel it_

_It will sweeten up my day_

_When it's thumpin' and it's pumpin'_

_I jump up and say_

_Hey! Hey! Hey!_

_That's my jam_

_That's my jam_

_Corey: I know you like it sir_

_And I know you like it ma'am but_

_All: That's my jam_

_That's my jam_

_Corey: Can't take it away_

_Cause jammin's what I am_

_That's my jam!_

When the song ended, Jackie tossed her blue ribbon over at Jammy, who absorbed it.

"Jammin'!" Jammy cheered.

"Looks like our jam was pretty hot Core." Laney said.

"Our jam Lanes?" Corey gained a spotlight. "As soon as it's out of the jar, a jam belongs to everyone! Jam fills your soul, gets stuck in your teeth, and all it wants in return is your love. So don't turn your jam into a stain on the ground! Taste it. Don't waste it."

The spotlight disappeared.

"Wow. Maybe you should have written those lyrics down…this morning!" Laney shouted.

Corey gave her a sheepish smile.

Kin and Kon were over at the judge's table spreading jam on toast. Kon offered a slice to Jackie.

"Tastes like a winner to me!"

Jackie took the toasted bread and recognized the color of the jam that was on it.

"Jammy!"

"Rejoice my friends!" Jammy said happily. "This is every jam's destiny! I embrace it! For I have lived-"

Jackie took a bite out of the toast.

"Mmm…this tastes even better on bread!"

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Sorry for making you guys wait for another chapter again. Been having some tough writer's block lately. Hope to see you all again soon!**


	37. Sound the Siren

**WARNING! This chapter is long. Very, very long. Please only read this if you truly believe you have time to spare. Anyway, this one is based off of an original scenario suggested by guest reviewer AA who said:**

**"Hi. **  
**I have another idea for an original idea. **  
**A beautiful siren walks into town and makes ever man in Tranquil Town fall in love with her using her beautiful voice, including the boys from Grojband and the Newmans and Rick Salary. The girls from both bands have to work together to get their guys back. **  
**Just a thought :)"**

**Writing this one was fun and I hope you all have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 37**

**Sound the Siren**

It was a slow day at Billy's new hardware store. Billy had been sitting at the counter all day waiting for the customers to roll in.

"Man, I don't get it!" Billy said to himself. "I thought opening up this hardware store would bring in a boatload of paying customers! Guess nobody appreciates hard work no more."

The business owner jumped up when he heard the bell on top of the store door ring. Standing by the door was a tall blonde woman with sparkling blue eyes and a long white dress that went all the way down to her feet. She had on a necklace with a gold eigth note in the middle.

"Finally!" Billy chuckled. "I was afraid I'd have to close up shop early today! So, what can I do for you madam?"

The woman placed her hand under Billy's chin.

"It's not what you can do for me. It's what I can do for you." She smiled.

"I'm afraid I don't follow ma'am."

She started to sing:

_Men are simple_

_Men are dumb_

_I can wrap them round my thumb_

_But even if they're not the smartest_

_I know they can work the hardest_

_Hardware store worker please_

_Work for me_

Billy was lost in the woman's eyes.

"Wow, that voice of yours sure is beautiful!" he commented. "I'll work for you any day!"

The woman gave a sly smile.

On the other side of town, Party Stanimal was at a resident's house party.

"Rocking music, awesome décor, free refreshments…this party's got potential. Not perfect score potential, but I'd give it 8 awesomes."

The same woman from the hardware store arrived with Billy standing behind her. When she came in, everybody stopped dancing and having a good time and started staring at her. Party Stanimal was the first one to make her acquaintance.

"Hey. Don't know who you are or whether or not you were invited to this little shindig, but you seem like the partying type!"

"Sorry boys. Party's over." The woman sang again.

_Men are simple_

_Men are dumb_

_I can wrap them round my thumb_

_But even if they're not the smartest_

_I know they can work the hardest_

_School party critic please_

_Work for me_

Just like Billy, Party Stanimal fell under the blonde girl's spell.

"Whoa…this party didn't even start until you came in."

The other boys at the party left their dates and joined Party Stanimal.

The woman headed for town hall next where Mayor Swellow was leaning back in his office chair watching TV with his picture of his mother.

"Ah, I'm telling you Mother! Nothing says a day-off like sitting in your office watching soap operas all day!"

The woman in the white dress opened the doors and came up to the mayor's desk.

"Ahem…"

"Go away!" Swellow ordered. "Can't you see I'm off-duty?"

"Oh you won't be for much longer." The woman shoved the small TV set off of the mayor's desk, causing it to break.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the mayor demanded.

The woman just smiled and sang.

_Men are simple_

_Men are dumb_

_I can wrap them round my thumb_

_But even if they're not the smartest_

_I know they can work the hardest_

_Sweet darling mayor please_

_Work for me_

Mayor Swellow's angry face turned into one of awe and pleasure. He slowly pushed the picture frame of his mother off his desk.

"Think I've found me a first lady…" he said.

The beautiful singer continued to go around town, hypnotizing every man she saw. Her singing voice attracted the men like bait and they agreed to work for her from then on. After collecting almost a whole army of males, the girl's next target was a certain garage in the middle of town.

"Okay Core! Let's hear that riff!" Jackie told her lead singer.

Corey played a few chords on his guitar. The notes were so loud that they made Jackie fall out of her chair.

"Whoa…uh, nice job Corey. You were very uh…loud."

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Corey smiled with pride.

Jackie checked something off on her clipboard.

"Kon, you're next. Show me what you got!"

"Drum solo!" Kon yelled excitedly before busting out a fast rhythm. So fast that he didn't know when to stop. Jackie grabbed a hold of him.

"Whoa there big fella! Take it easy! We don't want those sticks to burn out now do we?"

Kon giggled as Jackie sat back down.

"Your turn Laney."

Laney strummed some notes on her bass.

"Very nice Laney! Much improved!"

"Show-off…" Corey mumbled under his breath.

"Okay Kin. You're up." Jackie waited for Kin to start playing but she didn't hear a sound. "Kin? It's your turn. Kin?"

Kin was standing over his keyboard leaning his right hand on his right cheek.

"Hey Kin!" Kon shouted in his brother's ear. "Anybody home? Earth to Kin! Wake up!"

Kin just sighed blissfully, completely ignoring Kon. His eyes were focused directly on a certain brown-haired girl holding a clipboard while scratching her neck. He sighed again and hearts filled his eyes. He started imagining himself and Jackie walking in a field of wild flowers while holding hands. He pictured the two of them sitting down in the meadow side by side. He already knew how the scene would play out. He would give her a flower he just picked and she would smell it sweetly. Then she would playfully poke him on the shoulder. He would smile and poke her even harder. Then they would both engage in a little poke battle before Jackie would tackle Kin to the ground making the two tumble down the hill. It would end with Jackie on top of Kin and both of them would be smiling. Kin sighed as his vision slowly faded. Corey came up to the love-struck keyboardist and played a loud riff to get his attention. Kin screamed and hid under his keyboard.

"Quit staring off into space Kin!" Corey scolded. "This new song needs to be perfect and it's really important that we each practice our own part!"

Kin stood up. "Sorry Corey. It's just that…I was thinking about…" he paused. "You-know-who…"

Corey looked over at Jackie who was still writing on her clipboard. He gave a mischievous smile.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Sorry Kin, we all forgot how much you love to imagine yourself and your precious Jackie frolicking in a meadow!"

"Hey! How'd you know I was thinking about that?"

"I read the entire paragraph dude."

"Too bad Jackie couldn't read it." Kon giggled. "She could have laughed with us!"

And so Corey and Kon laughed.

"Oh Jackie!" Corey imitated Kin. "Won't you hold my hand while we walk through some wild flowers together?"

Kon did an impression of Jackie. "I'd love to Kin, but I can't fall in love with you because you're my keyboardist and I will forever only think of you as a friend! Plus I don't know if you knew this or not, but I don't date nerds!"

Corey and Kon continued laughing hysterically. Kin just glared at the two of them.

"Aw, don't listen to them." Laney told Kin. "It's not like they know what love is."

"And you do?"

"Sure! It's a very powerful emotion and sometimes it can take you over completely. I know exactly how it feels."

"Really?"

"Yep. Cause I've got my eye on someone too. He's really cute and charming, but sometimes he can be a jerk." Laney glanced at Corey as he and Kon laughed. She sighed.

"Sometimes I get caught up in how I feel about him too."

Kin smiled, feeling a bit better. At least someone else knew what it was like to be in love.

Then suddenly, an angelic voice could be heard from outside the garage. Corey and Kon immediately stopped laughing.

"Whoa, where's that awesome singing coming from?" Corey asked.

He and Kon opened the garage door and that's when they saw the beautiful blonde-haired girl.

"Wow…" they both said.

"Hello boys."

Jackie stepped outside.

"Who are you? I've never seen your face around here before."

"Well sister, some people call me…Malady." She sang again.

_Men are simple_

_Men are dumb_

_I can wrap them round my thumb_

_But even if they're not the smartest_

_I know they can work the hardest_

_Singer and drummer please_

_Work for me_

Corey and Kon were amazed at how pretty she sounded. The two gained hearts in their eyes and they somehow managed to float towards Malady.

Laney and Kin met up with Jackie.

"What's going on?" Laney wondered.

"I don't know!" Jackie claimed. "This lady just started singing a song and the next thing I knew, Corey and Kon started following her!"

Tracy and Macy came outside.

"Aw, too bad!" Tracy pretended to be sad. "Looks like Beanie Boy and the Big Ball of Lard have found a new girl to take orders from! Guess now they'll totally forget all about you and your stupid band will never bother me with their noise again!"

"Corey and Kon wouldn't forget me!" Jackie insisted.

"So…" Malady began while magically lifting Corey and Kon. "Now that you boys work for me, I suppose that makes me your new band manager, doesn't it?"

They both nodded. "Totally…"

"That's what I thought. Now come with me you two. You've got an empire to build."

Malady left with the boys floating behind her. Jackie was shocked.

"But…but…I…I mean they…"

"It's so nice to be the older and wiser one." Tracy whispered to Macy. "Now out of the way squirt! Rick Salary is taking me out for ice cream today and I would say I don't want your band messing everything up, but it looks like that's not going to happen today or ever again!"

The dark-haired girl laughed evilly and walked off. Kin got a good look at Malady as she was leaving and gasped.

"Guys! That girl! I know what she is! I've seen her before in my Rock Lore books! She's…she's…a siren!"

"What's that?" Laney asked the scientist.

Kin grabbed one of his books and flipped to a page on sirens.

"Here it is!" he pointed to a picture of a woman who was very similar to Malady. "'Siren: a human-like creature who uses its beautiful melodies to attract the opposite sex and force them to become its slaves'. Don't you guys get it? That siren is hypnotizing all of the male citizens so she can use them to create her own empire!"

Just then, the three heard singing again.

_Even if they're not the smartest_

_I know they can work the hardest_

_Manager, bassist please_

_Work for me_

Malady was using her powers to make Jack and Larry of the Newmans fall under her spell.

"So beautiful…" the two of them sighed.

Kim was hysterical.

"Jack! No!" she grabbed onto Konnie and cried. "They always leave you for a cute blonde! Always!"

"I'm a cute blonde." Konnie remembered.

"That's only cause you dye your hair." Carrie reminded her.

"Oh yeah."

"This is not good." Jackie decided. "What are we gonna do?"

Kin read on. "It says here that the only way to break a siren's spell is to perform an even better song than their own!"

"Is that all?" Jackie scoffed. "That's easy!"

"Yeah, but we still need lyrics if we're gonna break the spell!" Laney pointed out.

"I know!" Jackie beamed. "Let's go find Tracy! She said she had a date with Rick Salary so maybe we can ruin it and get her to go diary!"

"Perfect!" Kin put down his book. "You girls find a way to get those lyrics and I'll see if I can snap Corey and Kon out of that trance."

"But Kin! You're a boy!" Jackie stated. "What if she uses her powers to hypnotize you?"

"Oh don't worry. I won't fall for her tricks so easily because I'm already devoted to a girl." Kin blushed as he looked at Jackie. "Besides, Kon is my responsibility so I have to be the one who saves him from an evil power-hungry siren."

"You're such a good brother." Jackie put a hand on Kin's shoulder.

"I know." Kin turned even redder. "Well um…gotta go!"

The black-haired kid ran off.

"Jacks, I just thought of something." Laney said. "What if Kin doesn't get Corey and Kon to snap out of it? Lyrics won't be our only problem! We'll need more people to help us play music!"

"Oh yeah, you're right…" Jackie thought about it, then she looked across the street where Carrie, Kim, and Konnie were standing. "Wait! I think I just found our replacements!"

"You want us to what?" Carrie repeated after Jackie explained the whole thing to her.

"Play your instruments while we sing a song to break the siren's spell!"

"Absolutely not!" Carrie shook her head. "The Newmans are a legendary band. They don't accompany lesser-known bands with unpopular managers!"

Jackie ignored the last comment.

"Look, we get it. You don't want to help us because we're fierce rivals competing to see who's better than the other. Trust me, we don't want to be seen with you either."

"But we're not asking you to do it because we like you." Laney went on. "We're asking you because we like our bandmates. Some more than others." She blushed. "And if you like your bandmates as much as we like ours, you'll help us stop that evil siren."

Kim wiped some tears from her eyes.

"You mean, if we play our music with you, Jack will come back to us?"

"Totally!" Jackie nodded. "So, what do you say?"

Kim and Konnie smiled at Carrie as she thought it over.

"Well…okay! Fine. Just this once though."

"Yes!" Jackie and Laney high-fived.

"Now you guys stay here while we get the lyrics!"

The manager and bassist ran off.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

The men of Tranquil Town were hard at work building an empire for their new-found love, Malady. The wicked siren was sitting on a homemade throne while being fanned by Corey and Kon.

"Tell me again. Who's the most beautiful siren in the entire town?"

"You are Queen Malady." Corey and Kon answered simultaneously.

"That's right."

"Hey!" Jack called out. "Beat it nerds! It's our turn to fan the queen!"

He and Larry were holding two giant feathers of their own.

"We were here first!" Corey argued. "And Queen Malady likes us best!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

Malady snapped her fingers and all four boys immediately stopped fighting and gave her their attention.

"Come now boys, you know I love each and every one of you equally." She muttered under her breath. "Zero percent." She pointed to Larry and Jack. "Listen, why don't you two bring me some freshly-picked grapes and you can feed them to me while these two fan me."

Jack and Larry saluted.

"At once Your Grace."

Kin stepped up to the throne just as Jack and Larry left.

"Ahem!"

Malady looked down and saw the boy in glasses.

"Oh another slave." She cleared her throat "Excuse me, but why aren't you doing my bidding by structuring my castle walls?"

"Because I'm not a slave 'Your Majesty'. I'm Kin Kujira, keyboardist of the greatest band in Tranquil Town! And you made a terrible mistake disrupting our rehearsal! So give me my brother back right now! Oh, and Corey too."

Malady was surprised at first but then she smiled sinisterly.

"I've got a better idea. Why don't I sing you a song instead?"

_Men are simple_

_Men are dumb-_

"Your little melodies won't work on me Malady! Sing all you want, but I'll always remain faithful to the one I love." Kin took out his picture of Jackie. "She's got beauty on the inside and the outside. Not only is she pretty, she's smart, kind and talented. In fact, I don't think I could ever ask for an even better manager. I love her so much. And you can't change that no matter how pretty your voice sounds. Because you may have a beautiful voice and a beautiful face, but you'll never be able to compare to her beautiful heart."

Malady stood up from her throne and got a look at Jackie's picture.

"So, I'm guessing she's your girlfriend?"

Kin blushed deep red. "What? Oh no! Not at all! But it would be nice if she was."

"Oh I see. You're in love with a girl who doesn't even know you exist."

"What? No, no! She knows I exist, she just doesn't know I like her, that's all."

Malady laughed. "Well, that's not very polite of her is it?"

"Huh?"

_She's so overrated_

_Doesn't pay attention to you_

"Well, I wouldn't say that."

_She's rotten and hated_

"Not by me."

_Don't deny it, it's true_

_Oh, she's never gonna love you_

_You're just not meant to be_

_Why don't you just forget her_

_I know that you won't regret her_

_Sweet Kin Kujira please_

_Work for-_

"No!" Kin shouted firmly.

All of the men gasped while Malady just stood still in silence.

"No? Oh…I see…"

_You're smarter than I thought_

_I guess not all men are useless_

_I could use a kid like you right by my side (Men: Right by her side)_

Malady pulled Kin closer and pinched his cheeks.

_I'll give you what you aspire_

_Anything your heart desires_

_Can be yours if you just let me be your bride_

Jackie and Laney were watching the two of them from a safe place.

"Be my bride?" Kin repeated.

"That's right sweetness." Malady dropped Kin and placed a crown on his head.

_Just imagine you and me_

_We could rule these men together_

A long line of hypnotized citizens formed near Kin, each one holding an object that Kin desired.

_They can pamper you and serve you anything_

Malady picked a dandelion off the ground and placed it in her mouth.

_You will have your share of power_

_If you let me be your flower_

She handed the dandelion to Kin, causing him to sneeze and blow the seeds off.

_Now is that too much to ask to be a king?_

_(Men: You'll be happy, oh so happy)_

_Go ahead my little genius_

_Try to figure this one out_

Kin glanced at his picture of Jackie.

_It's a very easy choice you gotta make_

_Would you rather have a girl_

_Who doesn't know you're in her world_

_Or would you rather have a queen for goodness sake? (Men: For goodness sake!)_

Malady used her magic powers to lift Kin off the ground.

_Now I know you think it's wrong_

_To have this chapter run too long_

_But I assure you that's the way it's going to be_

Jackie and Laney watched the scene in horror.

_Sweet Kin Kujira please_

_Work! (Work!)_

_With! (With!)_

_MEEEEEEEEEEE!_

Kin's eyes changed to hearts for he was finally under Malady's control. Jackie and Laney gasped. Malady gently lowered the keyboardist to the ground.

"So, what do you say now, partner?" she asked him.

Kin tossed his personal photo of Jackie and hugged Malady's waist while giggling.

"That's more like it."

The frame landed in front of the girls and broke in half.

"Oh no!" Laney cried. "She got Kin too! Now what do we do?"

"The only thing we can do Laney! Get lyrics from Tracy so we can sing a better song than Malady's and bring her empire down!"

"But how are we gonna get lyrics from Tracy?"

"Easy! Malady may have a huge army of men to do her bidding, but there's still one boy she's missing…" Jackie came out of her hiding place and ran up to the evil siren. "Hey Malady!"

Malady dropped a love-struck Kin and faced the manager.

"Oh, it's you." Malady smiled. "The obsolete one. Why don't you just give up on your nerd friend here? He's mine now."

"I'm not here for him. I want to talk to you about something else." Jackie pulled Malady closer. "Listen, do you ever get the feeling that your army is a male short?"

**SIREN'S SONG TRANSITION!**

Tracy and Rick were sitting on a bench in the park eating ice cream cones.

"Rick, are you sure that you don't want a lick of my ice cream?" Tracy offered her crush her cone.

_"__So your lips will have touched what my lips have touched and it'll be like we just kissed?" _She thought.

"Nah." Rick shook his head. "Rick thinks that strawberry is a more fulfilling flavor than chocolate."

Tracy looked at her cone and purposely dropped her scoop of ice cream on the ground.

"Oops! Oh well! I'll just have to go buy another one I guess!"

With that, the teenager stood up and headed over to the ice cream stand just as Jackie and Malady entered the scene.

"There he is!" Jackie pointed over at Rick who was sitting on the bench licking his ice cream. "So, what do you think?"

"Hm, he is cute. Love the hair. And he loves strawberry ice cream as much as I do." Malady thought it over. "He'd be perfect as my royal advisor."

The siren started to sing again.

_Men are simple_

_Men are dumb_

_I can wrap them round my thumb_

_But even if they're not the smartest_

_I know they can work the hardest_

_Hunky Rick Salary please_

_Work for me_

Rick turned his head after hearing the music. As soon as he saw Malady, he dropped his ice cream cone in awe.

"Rick Salary's found a new favorite flavor."

Meanwhile, Tracy was at the ice cream stand arguing with the stand owner.

"What do you mean you're out of strawberry?!" she yelled. "I'm trying to get an implied kiss from my future boyfriend!"

The lady at the counter scoffed.

"Well don't look now sweetie, but it looks like your future boyfriend is stepping out on you."

"What?" Tracy looked behind her and saw Rick with Malady.

"Rick digs girls who know how to sing." He said. "Rick will totally be your royal advisor."

Malady tickled Rick's chin.

"That's my big strong hunk!"

Tracy started turning red with anger.

"After all I've done for Rick, he's talking with some blondie just because she has a nice voice and junk?! I THOUGHT ACTIONS SPOKE LOUDER THAN WORDS!"

Tracy shot up into the air surrounded by strawberry ice cream cones. Her diary floated into her hand and she wrote inside of it. The trees in the park burned up in flames and the giant ice cream cone on top of the ice cream stand blasted out fire. Tracy held out her burning pen once she had finished writing and returned to normal, landing on the park bench. Jackie caught the diary in her hand while Laney and the Newmans met up with her.

"Got it!"

"There you guys are! Do you have those lyrics ready or not?" Carrie pointed to the diary. "And what's that thing for?"

"Oh this?" Jackie thought quickly. "Uh…it's our lyric book! All of our lyrics are written down in here!"

Laney raised her eyebrow at Jackie.

"Hey! It's not like I'm lying!"

"Lyric book?" Malady chuckled. "What in heaven's name are you planning to do with that?"

"Oh you'll find out 'Your Highness'" Jackie grinned. "Hit it girls!"

The Newmans started playing their instruments while Jackie and Laney sang.

_Girls and boys are different_

_But they can also be the same_

_So whenever there's a problem_

_Why do girls give boys the blame?_

_We all live on this planet_

_No one's good or bad you see_

_Why can't we just combine our nations_

_And live in harmony?_

_Boys and girls belong together_

_They should not be apart_

_No matter the cost, no matter the weather_

_We'll all join forces and_

_Make a new start _

Malady's army of men immediately stopped building for her and moved to where they heard the beautiful song. Malady saw this.

"Hey! What are you doing you fools? Stop! Don't listen to them! I'm your queen!"

_Jackie and Laney: Just because we're female_

_Malady: Men are simple, men are dumb_

_Jackie and Laney: Doesn't mean we are not right_

_Malady: Don't listen to that beating drum_

_Jackie and Laney: We may be different genders_

_But we do not have to fight_

_Malady: Why can't you see? You work for me!_

_Jackie and Laney: Nobody works for that girl_

_She's done nothing good for you_

_But if we take time to make some changes_

_There's nothing we can't do!_

Carrie performed an incredible guitar solo, sending the song through the crowd of men. Once they heard it, they snapped out of Malady's evil spell.

_Jackie and Laney: Boys and girls belong together_

_Through thick and through thin_

_And as long as we be true forever_

_We will always_

_WIIIINNNN!_

Carrie played a final chord and fire shot out of the stage. The crowd applauded, happy to know they were free of the siren's curse. Or were they?

"No!" Malady screamed. "You can't do that! Those are my slaves! They work for me! I'm their queen! ME! ME! ME!"

"Wow, she's as bad as Tracy." Jackie muttered.

"You girls think you've won? Ha! Not a chance! I'll just sing my song again and they'll go back to building my empire like good servants!"

Malady took a deep breath and was about to sing but nothing came out. She took another breath and opened her mouth but it was no use. The girls' song was powerful enough to take away her beautiful, hypnotic voice!

"What?! Impossible! I can't sing!"

"Gee, that's a real shame…" Billy commented.

"A party without a singer? Not a party in my book." Party Stanimal remarked.

"Boy, some day-off this turned out to be Mother." Mayor Swellow complained to his picture frame.

Rick nodded. "Rick's going to get some strawberry ice cream."

The men/boys of Tranquil Town started going their separate ways. Jack and Larry got together with Carrie, Kim, and Konnie.

"Carrie, from now on, you're the only singer I want to hear." Jack promised.

"I wouldn't want it any other way Jack." Carrie agreed.

Larry and Kim gained jealous expressions.

"No…NOOOO!" Malady got on her knees and pounded her fists on the ground. Then she got back up and gave Grojband a scowl before creating a portal with her left hand. "You can't keep me quiet forever! Sooner or later I'll have my voice back and sooner or later I'll come back to wreak my revenge on all of you!"

She got in Jackie's face.

"Especially you, you nosy nuisance! You hapless pest! You…you…you!"

It was Kin's turn to get in Malady's face.

"That's enough!" he shouted. "Listen up Little Miss Vocal Chords! Your time in Tranquil Town is finished! It's over! You lost and we won! And you know why? Because our music inspires people to unite as a whole while yours just forces people to do what you say! Sure, you may have gotten a few men on your side, but only until your voice gave out and left you all alone again! Let me tell you something sweet cheeks, music isn't supposed to control people, it's the people who control the music! Got it?! Now why don't you just go back to where you came from and stay there?! But most importantly, don't you ever, ever, EVER insult my favorite manager AGAIN!"

The last word was so loud that it startled Malady and she tumbled into the portal, sending her back to her own world. Kon stood still in silence.

"Whoa…remind me not to get on Kin's nerves for a while…"

Kin looked on the ground and saw his personal picture of Jackie broken in half. He picked it up and snapped it back together before hugging it to his heart.

"Do you really think she was serious?" Laney asked Jackie. "Will she really try to come back for revenge?"

"I dunno." Jackie shrugged. "Maybe if this story gets a sequel." **(A/N: That means pray for a second season!)**

"So Corey…" Laney began. "Have any ending monologues you wanna share with us?"

"Hmm…" a spotlight shined on Corey. "Well, let me think about that…uh…"

The spotlight disappeared.

"Nope! I think Kin summed up everything this time! Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**Hopefully I didn't offend any of my male readers. If I did, I sincerely apologize. On a different subject, I am really nervous about Grojband Season 2. I'm pretty sure all of the episodes of the second half of Season 1 have aired in Canada already and we should have known about the show's future by now. I keep checking the Neptoon Studios blog and Todd Kauffman's Twitter every so often and there's still no new information (does it look like I care about MonstroCity High? It just looks like a ripoff of Monster High anyway). Unless Todd has already implied about Grojband's fate. I did read a certain post that complained about Corey and Laney's relationship in Season 1 and Todd responded by saying "That's what Season 2 was supposed to be for." WHAT DO YOU MEAN "WAS"?! I am extremely worried. If anyone out there knows anything about Grojband Season 2, please let me know! At this point, I don't care if it's bad news, I just want to know so it'll stop eating at me. Okay, that's enough ranting. See you guys later!**


	38. Child's Play

**Here is another original chapter that I recently finished writing yesterday. The scenario was created by Grojbandfan55 and he/she said:**

**"****Hello,i love you history. I have a little idea... i am new at this...so...****What happen if Kin invents a machine that affects age, but accidentally the machine affects Laney and Jackie and returns at five years old."**

**Nice to know I am getting suggestions from new people. However, I am doing this one a little differently because instead of Laney and Jackie becoming five years old...well, you'll see how it goes. Also, I got inspiration for this particular chapter from the MLP:FiM episode "Baby Cakes" so that's why you'll see a few similarities. Hope you like it!**

* * *

**Chapter 38**

**Child's Play**

One Saturday afternoon, Jackie and Grojband were at home watching an old sitcom on TV.

"Honey! I'm home!" the husband on the show called out.

The wife gave the man a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello darling! How was work?"

"Oh you know how it is around the office. Just meeting after meeting after meeting. Lucky for me they only had decaf coffee today so it was easy to sleep through all of em!"

The sitcom's laugh track played.

"So, how was the baby today?"

"Absolutely wonderful!" the wife chuckled. "She ate all of her lunch, napped until 3, and I never heard her cry once!"

"Ah, don't we have just the most splendid baby in the neighborhood?"

"We certainly do darling. We certainly do."

Corey was impressed.

"Man, if this show has taught me anything, it's that taking care of a baby is a piece of cake!"

Laney raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah! I mean, look how easy those guys have it! Their kid is a complete angel and they're happy all the time!"

"Core, it's a sitcom." Jackie told the boy. "It's not as realistic as it looks."

"So what are you saying Jacks?"

"Look, taking care of a baby is a lot of hard work. It takes responsibility, tolerance, cautiousness…"

"Blah, blah, blah!" Corey scoffed. "Easy!"

"I'm with Corey on this one Jacks." Kon agreed. "Being a parent looks like one of the funnest jobs in the world!"

"Yeah." Kin nodded. "I can't wait to have kids of my own." He scooted closer to Jackie. "And I know they're going to have the perfect mother."

"You boys are all the same!" Laney complained. "You always jump to conclusions about stuff before you know what it's like."

"We're not jumping to conclusions Lanes." Corey claimed. "We know for a fact that babies are a breeze!"

"You wouldn't say that if you were the ones giving birth to them." Jackie folded her arms.

Kin stood up on the couch. "I know how we can settle this! Follow me guys!"

**LET'S FOLLOW KIN TRANSITION!**

Kin brought his friends to Jackie's living room where he was hiding something under a giant white cloth.

"Lady and gentlemen!" Kin announced, making Laney growl. "I now present to you my latest invention…"

The scientist lifted up the cloth revealing yet another strange looking machine.

"…The Age-A-Nator 2000!"

"Whoa…" everyone else said.

"See, anyone who gets zapped by this machine can become any age they want!"

"Really?" Jackie asked. "Any age?"

"Yep!" Kin nodded. "From infancy to the highest point of adulthood. It's the perfect way to make yourself feel older or younger!"

"Awesome!" Corey cried out. "Then we can use it to turn somebody into a baby and prove that it's not that hard to take care of them!"

Laney smirked. "Or we can turn somebody into a baby and prove the exact opposite of what you said."

"Now we just need to decide who to change into a baby." Kin started to think.

"I know!" Jackie got an idea. "How about Tracy? I've always wanted to see what it's like to be the big sister!"

"That's a great idea!" Kin took Jackie by the hand. "That way we can both be the oldest in our families."

Kon glared. "Dude, you're only a year older than me because we went one year into the future and now we can't go back."

"Quiet, _little_ brother."

"So Kin, mind showing us how this invention of yours works?" Jackie interrupted.

"It's easy!" Kin started pressing a few buttons on the machine. "You just enter the correct age into the main computer…" he entered in '5 months'. "…set up the maturity laser…" a small laser cannon came out of one of the compartments. "And finally, push the big red button to fire. So simple even Kon can do it!"

"Cool…" Jackie, Corey, and Laney said simultaneously.

"Hey!" Kon shouted.

"The hard part will be getting the machine all the way to Tracy's room. Luckily, I'm strong enough to handle it." Kin started pushing with all of his might, causing sweat to fall from his forehead. He then stopped to catch his breath and continued pushing. But the machine wouldn't budge.

Kon smiled a little at the scene.

"Need some help 'big' brother?"

Kin panted. "No. I got it."

"Kin, are you sure?" Jackie asked. "We might be able to get it there faster if we all pitch in."

"No way! Um…what I mean is…I can do it Jackie. I just need to put more work into my muscles."

The short teenaged nerd made one last attempt to move his invention, but then he lost his balance.

"Whoa, whoa, wah!" Kin fell over and accidentally hit the red button. The laser cannon began to charge up.

"Hit the deck!" Corey yelled as he and Kon moved out of the laser's range. The girls, however, didn't have time to react because the laser cannon had already fired at them.

**ZAP!**

The laser created a huge cloud of smoke. All three of the boys coughed. When the smoke finally cleared, Corey gave Kin an angry glare. Kin chuckled nervously and scratched behind his neck.

"Heh, heh…well I guess now I know why Tracy's nickname for me is 'Klutzy Nerd'."

"Hey guys!" Kon called. "Check it out!"

Corey and Kin met up with the drummer and gasped at what was below them. There were now two small babies where Jackie and Laney were standing.

"Aww…" Kin and Kon cooed.

"Wow Kin. I guess your invention worked!" Corey commented. "Lanes and Jacks are totally infantized!" he picked up the baby Jackie. "And they're kinda cute too."

Baby Jackie smiled and giggled.

"Hey guys! I think she likes me!"

"Likes?!" Kin panicked, taking Jackie away from the front man. "Oh you poor thing! Did that blue-haired guy scare you? Kin will make it all better."

Corey picked up the little Laney.

"This is great guys! Not only are the girls too verbally-challenged to complain about our ideas, but now we can prove right in front of their faces that taking care of a baby is easy!"

Jackie and Laney smiled. They couldn't communicate with each other but both of the looks on their faces said 'Let's teach these boys a lesson'. Then they started bawling and screaming really loud.

Kon covered his ears and shouted. "Are they broken or something?!"

Kin rocked Jackie in his arms. "Shh…don't cry Jackie. You know I hate seeing you so sad."

"On second thought, maybe now's not the time to prove I'm right." Corey said. "Let's get the girls back to their current ages."

"Oh…" Kin clenched his teeth. "Yeah, that's gonna be a problem. See, the Age-A-Nator 2000 is only a prototype, so its laser needs to charge for at least two hours before it can work again."

"What?!" Corey yelped. "Why didn't you tell us before all this happened?"

"It would have ruined the plot line."

Kon sniffed the air.

"Hey, do you guys smell something funny?"

Corey sniffed and gagged. "Ugh, what is that?"

Kin peeked inside Jackie's diaper and cringed.

"Uh-oh…"

The babies continued crying. Corey plugged his nose.

"Okay! New plan! Let's find someone else to take care of the babies. Maybe someone a little more qualified than us."

**BABIES ARE A LOT OF WORK!**

Corey gently knocked on Tracy's bedroom door.

"Ugh! Stop that banging racket!" Tracy called from the inside. "I'm coming!"

The tall teenaged girl came to the door and scowled when she saw three of her worst enemies standing in front of her.

"What do you twizerppy twerps want? I'm totally busy and whatnot!" she pointed inside her room where Macy was pedaling a stationary bicycle connected to Tracy's laptop. "My laptop battery ran out and I can't check hunky Rick Salary's blog every five seconds until it's completely charged and stuff!"

"Sorry, we just wanted to ask a quick favor from you." Corey showed her the babies. "See, Kin's new machine accidentally turned your sister and the band's bassist into infants and we need someone to watch them until we can change them back. Think you're up for the job?"

Tracy looked down at the babies and sniffed.

"Ew! You must be crazy loco if you think I'm going to take care of those…things just to make you happy! I hate babies. And I hate you even more. SO SCRAM YOU NOISY NERDS!"

"Okay, then maybe Macy could watch em for you. She's good at that stuff, right?"

Tracy gasped and got in Corey's face.

"Nice try, but nobody gives Macy orders…" she turned around. "MACY! PEDAL FASTER!"

Macy nodded and she began to sweat.

"C'mon!" Corey begged. "It's just for a few hours! It would really help us out a lot!"

Tracy gave her fakest smile.

"Oh it would, would it?"

The boys nodded.

"Well I'm willing to help by giving you three little words…"

The trio moved closer and listened.

"…I…don't…CAAAAARRREEE!" Tracy screamed so loud that Grojband went flying into the side wall. "Later Garbojband!" she laughed evilly before slamming the door.

Kon rubbed his head. "Man, Jackie must have some strong ears to put up with her everyday. And bones…"

"What do we do now?" Kin asked Corey.

"No problem guys! There's plenty of people in town who'd be willing to babysit!"

The band went across the street to Jack Matterson's place to see if he and the Newmans would watch the girls.

"Me? Take care of two smelly, drooly babies?" Jack scoffed. "You must be joking!"

"Aw c'mon!" Corey whined. "We'd pay you!"

Kim was practicing on her keytar when she heard their conversation.

"Waste two hours of my life babysitting my worst rival and her rotten bassist? Ha! Not even for a million dollars! What do I look like, a mommy?"

"You could have Kim help you." Kin told him.

Kim gasped and imagined herself and Jack as loving parents. She squealed and zipped up to the front of the garage. She opened her mouth to say 'yes' but Jack covered her mouth.

"Don't worry Kim. I'll say it for you. Kim doesn't want any part of your 'offer' and she definitely doesn't want to be known as 'a mother'. And me? Well, you'll never see me fathering any children in the future."

Kim frowned and her eyes filled with tears.

"Understand? Now beat it losers!" Jack went back into the garage. Pools of tears came out of Kim's eyes as she followed her manager back inside his house.

Next, the gang went to town hall to speak with Mayor Swellow. He was laid back in his desk.

"Babysit?" the mayor repeated. "Ha! You kids and your crazy jokes! I wasn't elected mayor just so I could hang around my office and look after a couple of tots!"

"So why were you elected?" Corey asked.

"So I could hang around my office and look after myself! What were you thinking?"

Corey and the twins sighed. They continued looking for someone to take Jackie and Laney for a while but nobody would do it. Billy was too busy running his dozens of businesses around town. Kelsey and Alyssa almost took the job but ran away screaming after they smelled the babies' diapers. Not even Rick Salary was willing to help.

"Rick says sorry, but Rick doesn't do babies. They'd ruin his cool factor." he walked off. "Rick thanks you for thinking of him though."

Corey, Kin, and Kon shared a long groan as they took the two crying babies back to the garage.

"We've gone to every citizen in Tranquil Town!" Kin recalled checking his watch. "And it's only been thirty minutes."

The boys groaned again.

"Okay, looks like we're just gonna have to take care of Lanes and Jacks ourselves." Corey decided.

"Do you really think we can do it?" Kin asked.

"Sure we can!" Corey set down baby Laney. "It's like I said at the beginning! Babies are a breeze!"

"Yeah I guess. And hey, maybe this way Jackie will see how affectionate I am towards her and when she's 14 again, she'll show some love back!" Kin held Jackie cooing. "And you know why? Because I love you! Yep! I really, really do! Who's the most beautiful little baby? Huh? Who is it? That's right! You are! Yes you are! I love you so much!"

Jackie just stared up at Kin with a blank look on her face. She leaned her hand toward Kin making him gasp with excitement.

"Yes! It's working! It's working!"

Jackie then took Kin's glasses and put them on her head. She giggled happily. Kin was surprised but then he smiled.

"Aw, you never change do you? You're still cute even as a baby."

Jackie put one of the glasses' lenses in her mouth and started sucking on it.

"Um, okay. That's enough of that. I need my glasses back now."

Jackie laughed and threw the glasses toward the floor where they broke in half. Corey and Kon gasped and gave each other uneasy looks.

"Oh great. Now what'd you do with em? Hey guys, think you could hand me my glasses? I would get em myself but I can hardly see."

Corey picked up the two halves of Kin's glasses.

"Uh, here you go dude." Corey chuckled nervously.

Kon took Jackie out of Kin's arms while Kin took back his glasses. Unfortunately, he didn't need to see to figure out that he was holding two different parts of them.

"Oh no…" he mumbled.

"Okay, let's not panic." Corey said. "There's two babies so we only need two sets of eyes to watch em, right? It's not like we'll regret this little mistake later on!"

"What do we have to regret?" Kin asked. "Jackie's the one who broke my glasses. Uh, not that I'm mad about that or anything."

"Really? Cause you were furious the last time I broke them." Kon replied.

"That's because you weren't a baby. You were just being stupid."

"Okay enough chitchat!" Corey interrupted. "We're already 2,000 words in and we have to focus on taking care of these babies!"

He picked up baby Laney and gagged.

"First things first, let's change their diapers. They're getting a little ripe."

"Okay fine." Kin said. "Hand Jackie to me."

"Uh, no offense Kin, but I don't think we can trust you to handle the babies without your glasses."

"Oh c'mon Corey! I'm not that blind if I don't have em on!" Kin tried to walk over to Kon to retrieve the baby Jackie but he went past him and tripped over the couch. "Ow…"

"Yeah, not happening." Corey decided. "Jackie's staying with Kon."

"What?!" Kin stood up. "No fair! Now she's gonna like him more than me!"

"You should have thought of that before you gave her your glasses."

"Coochie, coochie, coo!" Kon tickled Jackie's chin making her giggle.

"All right guys! Time to 'change' things up!" Corey announced.

They brought the girls over to the coffee table and laid them on their backs. Corey removed their dirty diapers and threw them in the trash with a disgusted face.

"Well, at least that part's done. Now we just have to put the new diapers on em."

There was an awkward pause. Corey picked up a fresh diaper.

"…So, uh, does anyone actually know how to put these things on?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Kon raised his hand. "I do! I can do it!"

"Really?" Kin was skeptical. "When have you ever changed a diaper?"

"Well I've never actually done it. But I've seen people do it before on TV!" Kon took the diaper from Corey. "Here! I'll show you! See, you just fold this part here…and then you take this end and tie it around here…and…done!"

Kon looked down and saw that neither one of the girls had diapers on. That's when he realized he had put the diaper on his head.

"Heh…whoopsie…"

Corey sighed. "On second thought, maybe I should do it."

"Hey guys!" Kin came in carrying a white bag. "I found some baby powder we can use! Bring the girls over here!"

"Kin! No!" Corey warned the keyboardist. "That's not baby powder it's-"

Kin opened the bag and a giant white cloud covered the boys. When it cleared, their faces and clothes were all white.

"…flour." Corey coughed.

Jackie and Laney laughed at their appearances.

"Sorry." Kin apologized. "I won't try to get things by myself anymore."

"Ugh…" Corey groaned. "Cue the narration!"

**NARRATION CUE TRANSITION!**

Corey and the twins spent the next hour taking care of their infantized bandmates. Or at least tried to for they were beginning to understand that babysitting is not the picnic in the park they thought it was. After they changed the girls' diapers, they tried feeding them some baby food or at least what came close to it: a puree of carrots, bananas, and peas. The girls spat out every spoonful they were given, making a huge mess in the kitchen as well as leaving the boys covered in mashed health food. Next they decided to give the babies a bubble bath but that didn't work out either. Jackie and Laney splashed water all over the floor and Kon got soap in his eyes during the process. Things got even worse when the babies wouldn't stop crying. Corey, Kin, and Kon tried giving them a bunch of baby toys but it didn't work. Eventually the trio started arguing over whose toy worked the best and used them to hit each other over the head. After a while they formed a truce, but the crying never stopped. Corey had put together a makeshift crib and he and the twins were currently attempting to rock the babies to sleep. But Jackie and Laney were still bawling and screaming.

"Are they sleepy yet?" Kon sighed.

"Does it sound like it Kon?" Kin answered sarcastically. "At this rate, we're never gonna get some peace and quiet."

"Never?!" Corey's eye twitched and he laughed. "Are you saying that all we're gonna hear for the next twenty minutes is crying?!"

"Yep." Kin nodded. "Better get used to it!"

Corey clenched his teeth and his body started twitching. Finally, he let out an insane laugh.

"I can't take this anymore!" He got into the babies' faces. "Stop crying! Is that all you ever do? We've been working our butts off all day just to make you happy! Now you owe us! So do us all a favor and just GO TO SLEEP!" the guitarist panted.

Jackie and Laney glanced at each other and they went right to sleep. The guys sighed with relief.

"Huh, what do you know?" Corey chuckled. "Brute force worked! Great job Grojband! Now all we have to do is wait fifteen more minutes and then we can turn Jacks and Lanes back to normal!"

"Thank goodness!" Kin wiped some sweat from his forehead. "No more responsibilities! From now on, everything's gonna go our way!"

"Yep!" Kon agreed. "The house is cleaned up, there's no more crying and the babies are gone!"

"Yeah…" Corey paused for a moment. "Wait, what?"

Quickly, the blue-haired kid turned around and screamed when he saw an empty crib.

"THE BABIES ARE GONE!"

Kin and Kon screamed with him and immediately started helping Corey search. Kon checked under the couch, Corey looked behind the TV, and Kin tried to look on the stage but he kept falling over from his poor eyesight. Then Corey spotted a trail of milk drops leading out of the garage.

"Guys! Over there!" Corey pointed to the door. "They left behind a trail of spilled milk! If we follow it, it'll lead us right to em! C'mon!"

Corey and Kon ran inside the house. Kin bumped into the wall before following his friends.

Meanwhile, baby Jackie and baby Laney peeked out from behind Kon's drum set. They were pleased to find out that their little diversion worked and that they were free to do whatever they wanted. The two of them looked over at the band's instruments and got naughty thoughts in their heads.

The boys in the band started frantically searching throughout the house. Corey checked under the couch cushions in the living room.

"Jacks?! Lanes?! C'mon guys! This isn't funny! Come out now!"

"Corey!" Kin called out. "I think I found them!"

"Really?" Corey brightened but then frowned again. "Where did you find them?"

"Outside by the bushes."

Corey didn't even have to turn around to see what Kin was holding.

"Kin…those aren't the babies…they're garden gnomes!" he facepalmed.

"I thought their heads felt a little pointy…"

Suddenly, the two heard a crash. Kon was inside the fireplace covered with chimney soot.

"They're not in the chimney either." he coughed up some of the black dust.

"Did you check the roof?" Corey asked him.

"You mean I had to look there too?!"

Then they all heard another crash coming from the garage.

"Hey…" Corey began. "That sounded like…"

The three of them gasped.

"OUR INSTRUMENTS!"

They all ran back into the garage (Kin bumped into Kon on the way) and were shocked to find the babies playing with their gear. Jackie was playing random notes on Kin's keyboard while Laney was jumping up and down on one of the drums in Kon's drum set, causing it to break open.

"My drums!" Kon cried.

Then Jackie picked up Corey's guitar and started chewing on the strings, causing them to break.

"No! That's my guitar!" Corey shouted.

Then Jackie managed to lift the guitar over her head and smash Kin's keyboard with it.

"I still can't see, but that definitely sounded like my keyboard breaking in half!"

The girls laughed and continued to smash the band's instruments. The boys did nothing but stand still with tears forming in their eyes. And then…

"WAAAAAAHHHHH!" they all sobbed.

Jackie and Laney stopped wreaking havoc to notice their friends crying.

"I can't take it anymore!" Corey wailed. "I can't do it! I just can't do it! Babies are hard! They're impossible! They're insane!"

Kin and Kon nodded while howling.

"Why did I ever think this job was easy?" Corey went on. "I've made a horrible mistake! I don't ever wanna be a parent!"

"Me too!" Kin and Kon agreed. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

Jackie and Laney had satisfied looks on their faces because the boys had finally said what they wanted them to say. They crawled over to the broken guitar and drooled over it. Somehow, it managed to glue the strings back together. They brought the guitar over to a crying Corey and gave it to him. Corey wiped his tears away.

"Huh?" he picked up the guitar and strummed a few notes. He was surprised to see that the babies' drool kept the strings stuck together.

"Whoa! That's amazing!"

Jackie and Laney proceeded to do the same thing with the keyboard and drums.

Kon gasped excitedly and he busted out a rhythm on his drums.

"No way…"

Kin tried to get up on stage to play his keyboard but he kept tripping up.

"Ow!" he rubbed his head. "Aw man, it's no use. There's no way I can play without my glasses."

Baby Jackie spotted the broken spectacles on the coffee table and stood on her tiptoes to grab them. She put the two halves together and drooled on the place where they broke. Then she crawled back over to Kin, carrying his glasses in her mouth. Kin reached his arm out and he felt his hand touch one of the lenses. He took the glasses from Jackie and put them on.

"Ahh…that's much better." he said. "Now I can see."

The young scientist walked over to his keyboard and played a melody.

"Wow! Who knew baby drool could be used as an effective super glue?"

Kin felt something tugging on his pant leg. He looked down and saw Jackie lifting her arms. Kin smiled and picked her up.

"Aww…Jackie, you're the best." he hugged her. "Thank you."

Just then, Kin heard his digital watch going off.

"Hey guys! The two hours are finally up! We can change Jackie and Laney back to normal now!"

"Yeah!" Kon cheered. "Woo-hoo!"

"Bout time!" Corey sighed with relief.

Kin placed the babies in front of his machine and this time, they behaved. He entered the correct coordinates, the laser charged up and…

**ZAP!**

When the smoke cleared, Corey, Kin, and Kon were delighted to see Jackie and Laney back to their original ages.

"Yes! It worked!" Corey was ecstatic.

Laney rubbed her head. "Guys? What happened?"

"What's going on Kin?" Jackie asked. "I had the weirdest dream. Laney and I got turned into babies and you guys had to take care of us. We smashed all of your instruments and used baby drool to fix them. But I think the weirdest part of all was that you kept saying how much you loved me. Isn't that funny? I can't imagine you ever falling in love with an ordinary girl like me. Definitely the kind of stuff that only happens in a dream."

Kin blushed. "Oh yeah…sounds like a dream to me…heh…"

"So what have you boys been up to?" Laney questioned.

"Oh we've been through a lot and well uh…" Corey stammered. "Let's just say we now realize taking care of babies is not that easy."

Jackie smiled. "Ahh…so you admit that we were right the whole time?"

The guys nodded tiredly.

"Uh…yep!"

"Totally!"

"So right."

Jackie stood up. "Well then, now that that whole issue is settled, what do you say we get back to rehearsal?"

Laney followed Jackie to the stage. "I'm game. What about you guys?"

No one answered.

"Guys?"

The girls looked behind them and saw that Corey and the twins were fast asleep.

"Uh…should we wake them up?" Jackie asked Laney.

Laney thought about it then she smiled. "Why don't we just let those big babies sleep for a while?"

"Should we at least wake Corey so he can end the chapter?"

Laney watched Corey turn over in his sleep.

"Hmm…nah…I think he deserves a break. We can do it ourselves."

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Jackie and Laney shut the garage door.

* * *

**You have no idea how long it takes for me to write these things. This one took days, maybe weeks to finish. The next few chapters are probably going to be shorter than this one for that reason. I'm just glad I got it done. See you guys next time!**


	39. Jealous Much?

**Whew! This has really been a productive month for me! I just finished three more chapters with original stories, including this one! I think writing these things is actually getting a little easier. Anyway, this is another request by Grojbandfan55 and she said:**

**"What happend if Laney has a new friend and spend time together, but this bothers Corey and decides that he and others to follow and Jackie tries to tell you minght be jealous.**  
**I dont't knon a good idea is you choice but you can put a little of love between Corey and Laney just that they're so cuto together. 3"**

**Sorry if this one is shorter than the other ones but I feel like couple one-shots like this one shouldn't run for too long. Enjoy nonetheless!**

* * *

**Chapter 39**

**Jealous Much?**

Grojband was chilling out in the garage one day, practicing their music. It hadn't been a very eventful day so far and they had no plans made whatsoever. There weren't any music-related events going on in town so all they could do was stay home. Good thing they didn't have any new songs written up. However, things were about to take a slight turn when Jackie entered the garage.

"Hey guys!" she greeted. "Guess what? A new kid just moved in next door!"

Corey perked up. "A new kid? As in a soon-to-be new fan of Grojband?!"

"Um, well…"

"This is incredible! No way can she not love living next door to the coolest band in town?! And you probably already told her all about us!" Corey got up in Jackie's face. "You did tell her about us right?"

"Well yes, but-"

"Sweet! Is she coming over? Do you think you could ask her to come over sometime this week?"

"I guess I could but see-"

"Aw, forget it! I can't wait that long! You've gotta bring her over right now!"

"Yeah!" Kon jumped up. "The sooner she hears my wicked rhythms, the sooner she'll be completely devoted to us!"

"But-" Jackie tried to say but Kin interrupted her.

"It's totally cool if you wanna invite her over today Jackie." the boy in glasses had hearts in his eyes. "After all, any friend of yours is a friend of mine."

"Well that was the plan Kin." Jackie finally explained. "But the thing is…the new neighbor is actually a boy."

When Jackie mentioned the last part, the hearts in Kin's eyes broke in half.

Just then, a tall teenaged boy with long black hair and freckles came in the garage.

"Guys I'd like you to meet our new neighbor, Luke!"

Luke waved at the band. "Sup?"

Corey was a little disappointed but tried to be polite.

"Oh. A guy groupie huh?" he chuckled. "I guess that could work. I'm Corey Riffin. I'm the band's front man."

Luke shook Corey's hand. "Oh yeah. Jackie told me about you. Said you were pretty cool."

"Yeah!" Corey smiled. "Totally!"

"She also said you were kind of a show-off at times."

Corey gained a look of surprise. Kin meanwhile, was scowling and feeling very jealous.

"Anyway…" Jackie gestured to the twins. "This is our drummer Kon…"

Kon waved and gave Luke a fist-bump.

"And that's our keyboardist Kin."

"Hey, how's it going?" Luke asked Kin. "You know, I'm a bit of a keyboard player myself."

"Oh really?" Kin said through gritted teeth. "How nice."

"Yeah, I've been playing for a few years now actually. My inspiration is Beethoven."

"Who?"

"Oh yeah!" Jackie remembered. "Why don't you play that one song you played for me earlier? Kin, you don't mind if Luke uses your keyboard for a minute, do you?"

Kin put on a fake smile.

"Oh no…go right ahead…" he held his hand out to Luke so he could pull him on stage. When Luke reached his hand out toward Kin's, Kin started squeezing it very tightly.

"Whoa!" Luke went as he got on stage. "You've got a strong grip for such a little dude! What are you trying to do, rip my hand clean off?"

Kin just growled in response but Luke took no notice. He slowly slipped out of Kin's grip and played a melody on his keyboard.

Kon began to cry.

"That was so beautiful!" he whimpered.

"I'll say!" Corey agreed.

"Yeah Luke! You're an amazing keyboard player!" Jackie commented.

"Yeah, you're amazing." Kin got up in Luke's face. "But I'm her favorite…"

Jackie then looked over at Laney.

"Oh! I almost forgot! This is Laney. She's our bass player."

"Oh, hey there I-"

When Luke looked over at Laney, he was at a loss for words. Laney turned her head toward Luke which to him looked like it was happening in slow motion. Her gorgeous red hair flipped from side to side before resting against her cheeks. She smiled slowly and batted her eyelashes, showing off her sparkling green eyes.

"Whoa…" Luke muttered under his breath. He took a step closer to Laney. "Hi. Uh, I, um…you, you're kinda cute…"

Laney's eyes widened. "Oh wow, uh…no one's ever told me that before."

"Heh, heh…" Luke chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I really like your…uh…hair clip? Yeah, it's…nice."

Laney looked up at her bright yellow hair clip.

"Uh…thank you?"

"Yeah…sure no problem." Luke scratched behind his neck. "So you like…music? Cause, you know, I do…and stuff."

Laney nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty rad. Let me tell you though, it's not easy being in a band with all boys!"

"Oh! I know right? We're really immature aren't we?"

Laney shrugged. "It's not so bad though since Jackie's with us now and the two of us have girl time every now and then."

"Cool…heh, heh. Very cool."

Just then, a voice could be heard from the house next door.

"Luke! Dinnertime!"

"Oh! That's my mom. I gotta go. Would it be cool if we finished this conversation tomorrow?"

"Sure. Sounds good. See you then."

Luke blushed.

"Yeah…see you then I guess."

Corey glanced at the two. He wondered why Luke was so flustered when he talked to Laney.

Luke looked back at Jackie. "Uh, you don't mind if I come back tomorrow right?"

"Hey, you're always welcome here, neighbor." Jackie wrapped her arms around Luke causing Kin's eyes to light up with fire. "See you tomorrow."

"Sure." Luke looked back at Laney one more time. "Bye."

Laney waved goodbye as Luke left the garage.

"He seemed nice!" Kon said.

"A little too nice if you ask me…" Kin responded suspiciously.

Corey nodded, silently agreeing with Kin. He knew there was something odd about that kid. The way he looked at Laney and the way he turned red when he talked to her made him feel uneasy. And what was worse was the way Laney smiled at him. Like she had actually found his shyness to be cute! And to Corey, that was not okay. From then on, he decided he would be keeping an eye on this "new neighbor" and making sure he didn't do anything to his bassist.

**THE NEXT DAY TRANSITION!**

Jackie and the band were all in the garage waiting for Luke to come by.

"I don't like this new kid." Kin grumbled. "I just know he's trying to steal Jackie away from me."

"But Kin, you're not even dating Jackie." Kon pointed out.

"Not yet you mean. But with that idiot Luke around, it'll never happen!"

Kon rolled his eyes. "You're crazy bro. Corey, tell him how crazy he is."

Corey looked down. "Actually Kon, I kind of agree with Kin on this one. There is something suspicious about that Luke guy. But I have a feeling it's not Jackie he's trying to steal."

"Then who is he trying to steal Core?" Laney questioned.

Corey didn't answer. He was too embarrassed. At that point, Jackie and Luke had come in and they were having a conversation.

"So you'll really do it?" Luke asked Jackie.

"Of course! Anything for you!"

"Oh good! You have no idea how happy I am to hear that! Seriously, I've been meaning to ask you this since yesterday, or I guess you could say the day we met, and I was afraid you might say no."

"C'mon, I'd never say no to a guy like you."

Kin saw the two talking and gave a long gasp. Then he clenched his fists and steam came out of his ears. He zipped up to the two of them.

"Oh no you don't!" he interrupted. "Stay away from her!"

"Kin!" Jackie cried. "What's wrong?"

"Yeah man! What's your problem?" Luke added.

"My problem? You're the one with the problem!" Kin exclaimed, poking Luke in the nose. "You've only known Jackie for a day and already you're asking her out on a date! Well, I know what you're up to and I'm not going to let you leave with her!"

"Dude! What are you talking about?" Luke shuddered. "I don't want to date Jackie!"

"Don't try to deny it bub!"

"Kin! Stop!" Jackie shouted, pulling Kin away. "How could you be so rude like that?"

Kin blushed and looked down shamefully. "I-I'm sorry Jackie. I-I-I was just worried about you is all."

"Worried? What is to be so worried about?"

"I-I-I was afraid that if you and Luke were dating then…you'd forget all about me-er, I mean us. You'd spend so much time with him that you wouldn't have time to be our manager anymore."

Jackie sighed and put her arm around Kin.

"First of all Kin, I would never forget about you guys no matter who I'm dating. You don't have to worry."

"Really?"

"Yes. But that's still no excuse to yell at our new neighbor!"

Kin nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Secondly, Luke wasn't trying to ask me out. He was asking me to ask Laney if she wanted to go out with him."

The other band members, who were listening in on the whole conversation, gasped. Laney blushed a deep scarlet color.

"M-m-me? Really?" she stuttered.

Luke was blushing also. "Yeah, I was a little too scared to ask you myself. I was just wondering if maybe, and obviously you don't have to, you and I could hang out in the park later today…" he paused. "Uh, it doesn't have to be a date or anything like that…no! What I mean is, it's not a date! No, no, no! It's just a chance for us to get to know each other better. Since, you know, we'll be living next door to each other for a while now. So uh…yeah! Not a date!"

Laney was speechless by her new friend's offer.

"I…um…"

Corey watched the two of them curiously.

"I guess maybe…" Laney thought about it for a while.

Luke frowned. "Yeah, I get it. Who wants to spend all their time with a loser like me anyway?" he turned to leave. "Bye."

Laney gained a guilty expression as Luke walked away.

"Wait!" she called. "You know what? I'd love to go to the park with you! I think I'll have time after practice today so what do you say I meet you at around 12:30?"

"Uh, sure!" Luke nodded. "That sounds awesome! Heh, heh…see you then!"

With that said and done, the black-haired kid headed back to his own house. Corey's jaw dropped in surprise. Did Laney seriously just say yes to a date with a boy she just met the other day? It was completely unbelievable. Of course, Luke clarified that what they were doing wasn't a date at all but Corey didn't let that fool him. He knew for a fact that something that wasn't a date would slowly turn into one. And Laney was out of her mind if she was actually thinking about dating that guy. His thoughts were then interrupted by Jackie.

"Corey? Core?" she said. "Are you okay?"

Corey shook his head and looked up at his manager.

"Oh…sorry. Yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking about something…"

Jackie was concerned. "You know if there's something you wanna talk about, I'm here for you. C'mon, what's bothering you?"

"It's just that…" Corey paused for a brief second. "I don't like the idea of Laney going out with someone she literally just met yesterday. Don't you think that's a little weird?"

Jackie raised her eyebrow and smiled.

"Core, are you jealous?"

"What? Me?" the front man scoffed. "No way! Why would I be jealous?"

"Maybe because Laney's taking a liking to the new guy."

Corey shuddered at the thought but he didn't show his fear in front of Jackie.

"Oh c'mon! Laney doesn't like Luke! That's ridiculous! And even if she did, I wouldn't be jealous! Lanes is like a little sister to me. I don't think of her that way!"

"Okay. Whatever you say Core." Jackie shrugged before getting up. "All right Kon, let's hear some beats."

As Jackie turned her attention over to Kon, Corey looked back over at Laney who was strumming notes on her bass. He started thinking about what would happen in the park later that day and whether or not Laney did like Luke. At that point, he had to admit to himself that he was, in fact, jealous. He would never say it to Jackie though, or Kin and Kon for that matter. They wouldn't understand. And there was no way he was going to tell Laney about his envious thoughts. He planned to keep his feelings hidden from everyone he knew and he also planned to go to the park that afternoon so he could spy on Luke and Laney. Whatever was going on between the two of them, he was going to put a stop to it.

**COREY IS GETTING JEALOUS!**

Later, after rehearsal, Laney headed toward the park to meet Luke. Corey disguised himself as a bush and followed her there. Luke was at the park already, sitting on a bench by himself. He was getting worried that Laney forgot about him or purposely decided not to come. He smiled when he saw her walking towards him.

"Hey! You actually came!" he sounded surprised.

Laney was confused. "Of course. I said I was coming. Why did you think I wasn't?"

Corey scooted himself and the bush he was hiding in closer so he could hear the two of them.

"Well, it's just that…most of the girls in my old neighborhood were kinda dishonest. There'd be times where I'd ask one of them out on a date…uh, not that this is a date mind you, then I'd wait two whole hours and they wouldn't show up."

Laney smiled and sat down next to Luke.

"Well, I'm not like those girls. In fact, I'm actually surprised you know I'm a girl."

"Really? Why's that?"

The red-head looked down. "Because everywhere I go, people are always mistaking me for a boy."

"What? No way!"

"It's true! No matter who I meet, it's always dude this, fella that. It's so annoying. And the worst part is my bandmates do it all the time! Especially Corey!"

Corey's ears perked up at this sentence.

"Sometimes I get the feeling he doesn't even know I'm a girl."

"Wow, I'm sorry." Luke grinned. "If it makes you feel better, I think you're the prettiest girl I've ever met."

"Really?"

"Yep. If you ask me, your friends are crazy if they don't see how beautiful you truly are." he smirked. "Come to think of it, that Kin guy is already pretty crazy. You should have seen how angry he got when he caught me talking with Jackie."

Laney giggled. "Yeah, you should probably know that Kin's had a crush on Jackie since the day she became our manager. He's really protective of her and he doesn't like it when other guys talk to her. What's even funnier is that Kin hasn't told Jackie he likes her and he still acts like he's her boyfriend."

"Really. So why doesn't he just tell her already?"

"He's tried to, believe me, but it hasn't worked out. One time he tried to write his feelings in a letter but it was filled with a bunch of embarrassing stuff. Jackie almost got ahold of it but me and the others managed to retrieve it before she had the chance to read it. To this day she still doesn't know about Kin's crush on her no matter how obvious he makes it look."

Luke groaned. "Ugh, obliviousness. The one thing that keeps a relationship from starting up."

"Yeah, I totally know how that feels…" Laney started thinking about how oblivious Corey had been in the past. Luke continued.

"Well, anyway Kin has nothing to worry about. I'm not interested in dating Jackie. I've got my eye on someone else right now." Luke glanced over at the short female bassist.

"Me too." Laney kept thinking about Corey.

And speaking of Corey, he was still watching both of them from a distance. He noticed Luke was scooting closer to Laney and leaning up against her. That was what did it for the beanie-wearing kid. He jumped out of his hiding spot and charged right for the two of them.

**CRASH! **

The bench got broken in half and Laney tumbled toward the ground. She sat up holding her head and gasped when she saw Corey pinning Luke down.

"I knew it!" he yelled. "I knew you were nothing but trouble!"

Luke was absolutely terrified. "What? Dude! What are you doing?! Get off of me!"

"Kin was right about you! You just wanted to break the band up! I never should have let you near Laney, you, you band breaker upper you!"

Laney grabbed Corey by the arm. "Core! Stop it! Let him go!"

"Can't you see what's going on Lanes? He likes you! I know he does because I saw him trying to touch you and get close to you! He says this whole thing isn't a date but it really is!"

"What?!" Laney was shocked.

"Look man, I'm sorry! I didn't realize the two of you were dating, okay?" Luke pleaded.

Corey blushed a little at this sentence and so did Laney. But that didn't stop him from stopping Luke.

"Lies!" he shouted.

Laney continued pulling the band leader's arm.

"Core! That's enough! Luke isn't trying to break up the band!"

Corey froze at this statement because he knew if Laney said it, it had to be true. This gave Laney the opportunity to yank him off.

"He isn't?"

"No! Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Well, I…I guess I just didn't like that look in his eye when he was with you. It made me worried that you would fall in love with him and forget about the band."

At that point, Laney understood.

"Like what Kin was worried about when Luke talked to Jackie?"

"Yeah, exactly. I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry Lanes."

"Isn't there someone else you wanna apologize to?

Corey looked at Luke as he stood back up. He sighed.

"You're right." he got up and faced Luke. "Sorry about that Luke."

But Luke refused to forgive him.

"You're crazy man! Crazy!" the teenaged boy ran off.

Corey couldn't help but feel terrible about what happened. Laney's new friend was gone and it was all because of him. He looked down in guilt and sadness. Laney put a hand on his back to try to comfort him.

"Core, it's okay."

"I…I just wanted to protect you…" Corey mumbled. "I wanted to keep you safe…and thanks to me, you lost the guy you were in love with."

"What? Corey, I was never in love with Luke! Who keeps putting all these crazy thoughts into your…" she stopped for a moment. "Wait…were you jealous or something?"

"Huh? Who me? No! Of course not!"

Laney raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe a little…" Corey scratched behind his neck. "But it's only because I don't want to be forgotten."

Laney smirked and wrapped her arms around the blue-haired boy.

"I would never forget you."

Corey smiled and hugged back. He was happy to know his relationship with Laney was safe…for now at least. The two of them went back home and told the whole story to Jackie and the twins. Kin and Kon were pretty surprised by the events, but Jackie understood. She had a feeling Corey was catching on to Laney's feelings for him.

As for Luke, Jackie and Grojband never saw him again. Ever since Corey attacked him, he had been too scared to visit them. Then a week later, he and his family moved away from Tranquil Town. A moving van had packed up everything and Luke's parents started following it out of town. Jackie and Grojband stood outside and waved goodbye.

"I can't believe he's really leaving." Laney said.

"It's all my fault." Corey replied. "None of this would have happened if I had just stayed out of the way."

Jackie sympathized with Corey.

"Aw, it's not entirely your fault Core. It also has to do with the fact that the author didn't have any other use for Luke and so she decided to get rid of him completely."

"Either way, I've learned my lesson." a spotlight shined on Corey. "Jumping to conclusions is never the right answer. Sure, sometimes you assume right and have things done your way, but most of the time you just end up looking dumb in front of everybody." he glanced at Laney. "Including the ones you really care about."

Laney gave a caring smile and Corey put an arm around her.

"It's better to share your feelings with those people rather than keep them hidden. Especially jealousy. Because if that little green monster inside you stays inside you for too long, it might just turn you into a monster."

The spotlight disappeared.

"You know, you could write those words down and put them into a song?" Laney suggested.

"Maybe fella." Corey poked Laney on the nose. "Maybe."

Laney gained hearts in her eyes.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**Yay! Corney for everyone! BTW, the thing about Luke is true. I really didn't know what to do with him after this so I just cut him from the story altogether. I'm sorry if you were expecting more chapters with him in the future but I really think the story will go more smoothly without him. **

**Also, there's one more thing that I wanted to talk to you guys about. I just found out that there are 25 Grojband episode segments that I haven't done yet which is almost half of them. 5 need to be saved for somewhere near the end and 1 needs to come after a certain episode. That leaves 19 episodes that can be placedThe reason I bring this up is because I am not allowing this story to exceed 110 chapters and I want to make sure I get the chapters based on episodes done ahead of time so there'll be plenty of room for original requests later on. So...I'm going to make a deal with you guys. After I post Chapter 42, I want to go back to doing episodes for a little while. If we can get 10 more chapters based on episodes done, then I'll post a super-special original multi-part story afterwards! Sound good? Here is a list of the segments I haven't done yet (not including the 6 that need to be saved)**

**Cloudy with a Chance of Malt Balls**

**Pox N Roll**

**Math of Kon**

**Monster of Rock**

**Creepaway Camp**

**Zoohouse Rock**

**Smash Up Terby**

**Super Zeroes**

**On the Air and Out to Sea**

**Rockersize**

**Grin Reaper**

**Who Are You**

**The Bandidate**

**Hologroj**

**The Snuffles with Snarffles**

**A-capella-lips Now**

**For Hat and Country**

**Saxsquatch**

**Group Hug**

**Once again, after Chapter 42 is posted, please let me know which episodes you want to see and after 10 are completed, I'll write up the multi-part story. Okay, that's all I have to say. I'll get the next chapter up tomorrow. See you then!**


	40. A Closet Encounter

**As promised, here is another one. This one is based off a scenario created by The Mad Hatter and he/she said:**

**"****I had an idea: What if Kim and Laney got locked in a closet, and just ended up talking about there crushes, ****well everyone is freaking out about were they are."**

**Again, sorry it's so short. There'll be a super long one after this to make up for it. **

* * *

**Chapter 40**

**A Closet Encounter**

It was a very early morning in Tranquil Town. 6:30 a.m. to be exact. This is widely known as a time when most teenagers are at home sleeping. Or at least when they're on summer vacation that is. However, on this particular morning, Jackie Matthews and her Grojband friends were already up and out of the house. That's because this was the day they volunteered to help Billy clean his new local diner. Actually, Jackie was the only one who really volunteered. The others were dragged along with her. When she and the band made it to the diner, Billy was already waiting for them.

"Thanks for volunteerin' today Jackie!" he said. "With you and your friends around to clean this joint, I'll be open for business in no time!"

Jackie nodded.

"Not a problem at all Diner Billy! Grojband is always willing to help, right guys?"

The band was right behind her, but unlike their chipper and energetic manager, they were exhausted and sluggish, mainly because Jackie made them get up at a time when they would normally be asleep.

"Yay…" they all cheered with very little enthusiasm. Billy winced at how tired the band looked. He wasn't sure they would be up for the task.

"Just leave everything to us!" Jackie reassured the businessman. "By the time you come back, this place will be spotless!"

"I don't know Jackie." Billy scratched his head. "I'm starting to think this job might not be the best for you. Especially at an early hour like this! Can't have my workers gettin' distracted by falling asleep."

"C'mon Billy! I won't fall asleep! I'm wide awake!" Jackie insisted.

"I ain't talking about you." Billy pointed behind Jackie. "I'm talking about your cleaning crew."

Jackie turned around and saw her friends lying on the floor, fast asleep.

"There is one other group who volunteered to clean this place." Billy recalled. "Maybe I should have them do it instead."

"No! Wait!" Jackie ran in front of him before he had the chance to leave. "Billy, we can do this! We'll scrub every inch of this restaurant! I promise! Please, give us a chance!"

Billy looked at Jackie and then back at the sleeping Grojband.

"Well…okay. But you'd better get those slackers moving! This job is way too big for only one girl you know."

"Don't worry Billy! I'll take care of it! You just go and do whatever you need to do."

After Billy left, Jackie walked over to her snoring friends. She reached into her bag of supplies and pulled out a pair of earmuffs, which she placed over her ears. Then she took out an air horn and aimed it at Grojband.

**HONK!**

The sound was so loud it startled the band awake.

"AAHHH!" they all screamed.

"Ow! That was right in my ear!" Corey shouted.

"Wake up slowpokes!" Jackie ordered. "This place isn't gonna clean itself!"

"Why do we even have to do this?" Corey whined.

"Yeah, it's way too early for physical labor!" Kon yawned.

"Because Billy is our friend and friends help each other out. Besides, if you guys ever wanna play a gig here, we've gotta clean it up first."

"If you ask me, the only thing you should be cleaning up is your act!" a voice remarked.

Jackie gasped when she saw her worst rival, Jack Matterson, and his band, The Newmans, by the door.

"What are you doing here Matterson?" Jackie glared.

"Billy called us in case you and Grojbland decided to wimp out."

Carrie nodded. "And judging by those droopy faces, I'd say we came at just the right time!"

"So why don't you let us grown-ups do all the work and take those drowsy dweebs home to bed? Big babies like them need their sleep after all."

This comment was enough to get Grojband awake and angry.

"Hey!" Corey snapped. "We're not babies! We could clean this place way faster than any of you could!"

"Oh please!" Carrie scoffed. "It's not about how fast you clean, it's about how well you clean. And since that's the case, it means we're better!"

"Why don't you prove it then? My band against your band!" Jackie challenged. "There's two halves of the restaurant to clean. Whoever's side is cleaner after one hour wins!"

Jack got up into Jackie's face. "Oh, it is so on Matthews!"

"We're gonna scrub circles around you!" Carrie added.

"We'll see about that!" Corey replied.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

"Hope you're hungry Matthews, cause you're gonna eat our dust!" Jack taunted, holding up a broom

"What are you talking about? This isn't a car race!" Jackie pointed out.

"I know that! I was making a joke! See? Cause I'm holding a broom and brooms sweep up-oh, never mind! You're going down!"

"That's what you think!"

The rivals gave each other competitive scowls and while they weren't looking, Jack snatched Jackie's mop while Jackie broke the handle on Jack's broom.

"Okay, together on three…" Jackie paused before they both shouted:

"Onetwothree!"

Jack grabbed his broom and Jackie took her bucket and then the two raced back toward their sides of the diner.

"All right you guys! First things first!" Jackie announced to her friends, placing the water bucket on the ground. "Let's mop down these messy floors!"

"Um…with what?" Kin asked.

At that point, Jackie saw that the mop she was carrying inside the bucket had disappeared!

"Oh no! Where'd the mop go? Grr…that rotten, no-good Jack must have taken it when I wasn't looking!"

"No sweat Jacks." Laney reassured her. "I'll go get another one from the utility closet."

Jackie smiled at her gal pal. "Thanks Laney. You're the best."

Jack came back to his own band holding the broom. He hadn't noticed the broken handle yet.

"Okay Newmans, let's get down to business! Larry, start sweeping the dust out of the corners!"

He handed the broom to the red-haired bassist.

"Uh, Jack? How am I supposed to sweep with a broken broom handle?"

"What are you talking about Larry, that handle's not bro-" Jack gasped when he actually got a look at the broom in Larry's hand. "I don't believe it! Matthews sabotaged us so she and her lame band could win! Well, we'll show her! Carrie? Konnie? You girls start scrubbing the counters. Larry, use one of the feather dusters to get rid of those old cobwebs. I'll see if I can find another broom."

Kim zipped in front of her manager.

"You know Jack, I do remember seeing a spare broom in the utility closet. I could go get it for you if you want." she blushed.

"Aww…that's my favorite keyboardist!" Jack wrapped an arm around Kim. "I knew I could count on you!"

Kim sighed and hearts surrounded her. Then Jack let go and she fell face-first toward the floor. She got up quickly, gave an embarrassed smile, then ran off. When she made it inside the closet, Laney was already there, digging around for a mop.

"Hey! Out of the way Penn!" Kim shoved Laney away. "Jack needs a new broom because your stupid manager broke his."

Laney shoved Kim back. "Well, Jackie wouldn't have had to break it if _your _stupid manager hadn't stolen her mop! Now move!"

"No way! Haven't you ever heard the expression 'Ladies first'?"

"Okay, that's it!" Laney rolled up her sleeves. "You asked for it!"

With that, the fiery red-head tackled the raven-haired keyboardist to the ground. This caused the two of them to roll toward the closet door and slam it shut.

"Get off of me! Boys aren't supposed to hit girls!"

"Call me a dude one more time! I dare you!"

"You're insane!" Kim spotted a broom beside her and used it to whack Laney off of her.

Laney rubbed her head where she was hit and reached for a mop in the corner. The girls started clashing their cleaning utensils together, almost like they were having a sword fight. Kim swung her broom toward Laney's head but Laney ducked just in time. Then she swung her mop at Kim's feet to try to knock her down. Kim jumped over it just in time. The fight went on for a few minutes and then finally, the girls got tired.

"Okay, you know what?" Laney began. "Forget it! My band needs me right now and I gotta get this mop back to them."

"Hmph! Just like a member of Grojband to quit so early."

Laney reached for the doorknob and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"Uh-oh…"

"Uh-oh?! What do you mean 'uh-oh'? What's going on?"

"The door's stuck! It won't open! It must be one of those doors that you can only open from the outside!"

"What?! You mean we're stuck in here?! Together?! Oh no! No way am I going to stay inside a closet with one of my worst enemies! Move over!"

Kim backed up toward the far closet wall, holding her broom steady with both hands. She made the handle part of the broom face the door and after a few seconds, she charged toward it with a loud battle cry.

Unfortunately, ramming down the door didn't work and Kim hit the floor hard.

"Oh great." Laney said sarcastically. "Got any other bright ideas?"

Kim sat up. "Well, why don't you think of something if you're so smart?"

"How about instead of forcing the door down, we try pulling it open?"

"Fine. Grab on to me."

Laney grabbed ahold of Kim's shoulders while she grabbed ahold of the doorknob. The two of them started tugging with all of their might but the door was still stuck. Eventually, they both fell to the floor.

"Yeah, great plan." Kim stood up and dusted herself off. "Now what?"

"I hate to say it, but it looks like we're stuck in here until somebody comes looking for us."

"But, I have to get this broom to Jack! He's counting on me to give it to him! Without it, the Newmans will lose and he'll never trust me with anything important again!" Kim started to cry.

"You think you have it bad? My team's counting on me too! And there's no way they can win if I don't bring back the mop!"

"Yeah, but at least you're not in danger of disappointing the love of your life!"

"Oh c'mon! Jack won't hate you for one little mistake."

"How do you know?" Kim asked sobbing.

"Because Kin's messed up in front of Jackie several times and sure, she's not exactly 'into him' but she still trusts him with a lot of things."

"Are you seriously comparing me to that inferior Kujira? I'm way smarter than he is and unlike him, I never make mistakes in front of my love. That's why Jack totally likes me already and Jackie never bats an eye at Kin."

Laney rolled her eyes, knowing that Kim was exaggerating greatly. After all, if she was Kin's gender opposite, she had to have gotten nervous around her crush a lot.

"Anyway, what about you and Riffin?" Kim questioned. "Aren't you afraid of what this whole mess will do to your relationship?"

Laney turned red with anger and embarrassment.

"What?! Who told you about that?!"

"Nobody. I just know how Larry gets when he's around Carrie and since you're Larry's gender opposite, you should act the same way around Corey."

"Oh please! I'm tougher than that pathetic excuse for a bassist! I never get flustered when I'm talking to him! Um, no…what I mean is, I wouldn't have any reason to get flustered because I only think of him as a friend."

"Yeah right. Go on. Admit it. You love him don't you?"

"Yes…I mean, no! I mean, that's none of your business!"

"Hey now, I told you I'm in love with Jack. The least you can do is admit your feelings for Riffin."

Laney sighed. "Okay fine. I kinda, sorta like him."

"Kinda, sorta?" Kim folded her arms and smiled. "Really?"

"Argh! Fine! I really, really like him! Happy?"

"See? That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

Laney sighed. "Sure, it's easy to tell you. But you have no idea how many times I haven't been able to tell him. I feel like every time the two of us are alone is the perfect time to say what's in my heart. I just want to shout everything out: 'Corey Jaron Riffin, I love you with all my heart. Ever since Grojband came together, I've wanted us to be more than just friends. Sure I don't show it much, but when I'm with you I feel extremely happy. You might think differently since I don't like many of your ideas to raise the band's popularity, but it's only because I care deeply about you and want you to be happy and safe. But no matter what you do, I'll always be here for you. Always.' I've wanted to say those exact words for a long time. But I can't because I'm worried he doesn't feel the same way. I just don't think I could take being rejected by him."

Kim felt a wave of sympathy. She put a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder.

"Wow, I never knew you felt that way. To be honest, I haven't exactly told Jack how I feel either. Probably because I'm afraid of being rejected too."

"Really?"

The girl in glasses nodded and Laney smiled a little, glad to know she wasn't the only one struggling with a boy.

So then the two of them started talking about some of the adventures they had with their bands including how they showed up in the real world one day and met their managers. They shared a few laughs and after about an hour, the closet door opened.

"Laney!" Jackie cried. "There you are!"

"Sis, where have you been?" Konnie asked frantically. "We've been looking all over for you!"

Jack stepped forward and helped Kim up.

"Kim, are you okay? I'm so sorry! I never should have let you find a spare broom by yourself if it meant you would get trapped in a closet with that red-haired dork!"

"I'm fine Jack." Kim blushed. "Actually, I'm much better now that you're here."

"Lanes, did that Newman do anything to you?" Corey glared at Kim. "Because nobody hurts my bassist and gets away with it!"

"Core, relax. Kim didn't do anything to hurt me." Laney told the front man. "I got the spare mop."

"And I got the broom." Kim informed Jack. "Just like you asked."

Jack took the broom. "Good work Kim! Now we can finally prove once and for all that the Newmans are better at cleaning!"

"No way Matterson!" Jackie yelled. "Grojband is better! And now that we have a mop, we'll win for sure!"

"Well, you'd better mop faster than us Matthews! C'mon Newmans! Back to work!"

Carrie, Larry, and Konnie followed Jack.

"Grojband, battle stations!" Jackie ordered and Corey, Kin, and Kon followed her.

Kim and Laney stayed behind to talk for a minute longer.

"So, are you ready to lose Penn?"

"No. I'm letting you and your team have that honor."

"We'll see about that!" Kim was about to join her band until Laney said something.

"Wait!"

Kim turned around and faced her enemy.

"Good luck with Jack."

Kim grinned. "Good luck with Corey."

Laney grinned back and the two went their separate ways so they could help their bandmates.

* * *

**I'll have the next one up tomorrow. Until then, hope you all enjoyed!**


	41. Full of Emotions

**It's official. With a grand total of 6,201 words, this is the longest chapter I have ever written. Sorry it took me so long to upload it. Doc Manager was being stupid and only letting me copy and paste a certain amount of words at a time. Anytime I tried to paste the whole thing, it would load for a while, take me to a completely blank page, and never save the document. Not sure if any of you have the same problem but it is soooo annoying.**

**Anyway, this is based off of an original scenario made by AA:**

**"Hi. I know you've been getting a lot of requests for original chapters plus you already got two new requests recently, but I have got to send you this one. First have you seen Inside Out yet? If you haven't you absolutely have to. It's the best Pixar movie ever. Anyway, what if Corey has Kin build a machine to pump up their emotions kinda like the machine that pumped up their souls. But when Jackie is hit by it, it splits her up into her 5 emotions; Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear. And through out the story, we pop into everyone else's minds to see what their emotions are doing. Again I'm sorry I'm pileing on another story. But this one was too good to pass up. I promise I won't make another request for a while. Even though I have two more ideas and they're good ones too. Ok I think that's it. I love your work. Bye."**

**Hey, there's no need to be sorry for piling on requests. Especially not for a request as awesome as this. I loved Inside Out too (Fear is my favorite character) and I was super excited when you gave me this idea. In fact, one of the reasons as to why it's so long is because I had too much fun going inside everybody's minds and playing with their emotions. Speaking of which, the appearances of these emotions in this chapter are completely up to you. I kind of imagine them to be smaller, colorful versions of the characters themselves but the truth is they can be anything you want. **

**Before we begin, I just have to say: spoilers! There are some parts in this particular story that relate to the plot line of the movie. So if you haven't seen Inside Out yet, you might want to hold off on reading this chapter. Okay, that's it. Enjoy! Sorry it's so long!**

* * *

**Chapter 41**

**Full of Emotions**

One morning, Jackie and Grojband were all gathered in the garage because Kin, once again, had something to show them.

"So, you're probably wondering why I brought you all here." the scientist began.

He waited for somebody to say something back but nobody did.

"I said, you're probably wondering why I brought you all here." he gestured toward Laney who rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, fine!" she started speaking in a clueless tone of voice. "Why no Kin. Why did you bring us all here?"

"Thank you for asking Laney. Now let me ask you something. Do you guys remember that time when we tried to pump up our souls?"

Laney nodded. "Yeah. It failed miserably because it hit Tracy instead of us."

"Exactly! That's when I started thinking…Tracy writes in her diary whenever she feels a certain emotion, right? Well I figured if pumping up her soul released it from her body, then pumping up her emotions would release them from her body too! Meaning we would have even more Tracys which would equal more diary modes which would equal more lyrics! And that's why I invented this!"

The boy in glasses revealed some sort of crystal ball attached to a gold platform.

Laney was actually surprised by this and meanwhile, inside her head, her emotions were even more surprised. Five different colored figures were sitting at a console in Laney's mind. Each one represented one of her main emotions: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness.

"Oh great." Laney's Disgust went. "Another one of his brilliant ideas. Can't wait to see how this one goes horribly wrong."

"It probably won't even work." Laney's Sadness sighed.

"What if it's dangerous?" Laney's Fear worried. "Even touching it might make it explode!"

"C'mon guys!" Laney's Joy convinced the others. "I'm sure Kin knows what he's doing by now. Give him a chance!"

"Hey Lanes? You okay?"

The emotions made Laney turn her head and they saw Corey on the screen.

"Oh my gosh!" Joy cried. "Corey's looking at us! I think he likes us!"

"He probably doesn't." Sadness moaned. "He thinks we're a boy. There's no way we'll get a chance with him."

"What is up with the whole 'thinking we're a boy' thing anyway?" Disgust asked.

"I don't know, but I can't stand it!" Anger complained. "I mean c'mon! Just because we're in a band full of dudes doesn't mean people have to treat us like one! And I swear, if we get called 'bro' one more time, I'm gonna lose it!"

"Guys, he's still looking at us!" Fear clamored. "What do we do?!"

"Okay, let's just calm down and talk to him in a collected manner." Joy pressed a button on the console to make Laney say something.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Spaced out for a second." Laney chuckled.

"Wait a second, why does she sound nervous?" Joy looked beside her and saw that Fear had a hand on the console as well. "Fear!"

"Sorry! I panicked!"

"So Kin, how does this new invention work?" Jackie asked.

"It's simple Jackie." Kin pointed to a button on the front of the device. "All you have to do is aim the machine at someone, press this button, and then that person will split up into their five main emotions: joy, fear, anger, disgust, and sadness! And since Tracy has a diary mode for each one of those emotions, we can use all of them to our advantage!"

"I don't know Kin. I can't even handle sharing a house with one Tracy. Five of them would be way too many. Plus, Tracy doesn't have a diary mode for disgust."

The emotions in Kin's head were at the console.

"Oh no!" his Fear wailed. "She's judging us! Again! I knew this was a bad idea!"

"Relax! It's not that bad!" Kin's Joy said. "So Jackie's not so sure about our new invention. Big deal! She still likes us, right?"

"Yeah, as long as she doesn't remember that picture of us picking our nose." Kin's Disgust replied. "Or the time she walked in on us booty-popping."

"Oh yeah! That was fun!"

"And embarrassing! If we make one more wrong move in front of Jackie, she'll never be in love with us!"

"Then how do we get Jackie to love us Mr. Know-It-All?" Kin's Anger remarked.

At that point, all of Kin's emotions were in a huddle and standing away from the console. All except one: Sadness. He kept watching Jackie on the screen.

"Look Kin, I think you did a great job and everything…it's just…not one of your best ideas, you know?"

"Oh…she doesn't like our invention. That's sad." Sadness reached for a lever on the console. "We should cry."

Joy took notice of this and gasped.

"No! Don't!"

But it was too late. The Sadness in Kin's head pushed the lever forward and tears started streaming down his face.

"Oh…" Kin sniffled. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm a terrible inventor. I never should have made this. It's dumb."

"You moron!" Anger yelled. "Look what you did! Now Jackie will think we're a big crybaby!"

"Nice going Sadness." Disgust commented. "Just when things couldn't get any more embarrassing."

"We're doomed! We're doomed!" Fear cried.

Jackie saw how upset Kin was and felt bad.

"Aw Kin, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge your invention. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Kin wiped his tears away. "Really? Oh, it's okay then. I just wanted to create something that you would like. The last thing I want is for you to be disappointed in me."

Jackie wrapped her arms around Kin's waist and he gasped in surprise.

"Hey, I'm never disappointed in my favorite keyboardist."

Back in Kin's mind, Joy was ecstatic.

"No way! Jackie's hugging us! This is the best day ever!"

**PING!**

The emotions turned to their right and saw a bright yellow memory being created. Joy picked it up and watched it a few times.

"Great job Sadness!" he complimented. "Thanks to you, we've got another happy memory of Jackie returning our love."

Joy put the new memory on the projector so Kin could remember it. All five of the emotions looked up at Jackie and sighed happily.

Then suddenly, the moment was interrupted when a door slammed open and Tracy stepped in.

"There you are!" she picked up Kin and tossed him away so she could talk with her sister. "Guess what shrimp? I found another strand of _your _hair on the floor in _my_ room!"

Tracy held up a tiny strand of hair and Jackie took a look at it.

"So? How do you know it's not your hair?"

"Because my hair never falls out! It's much too smooth and silky! Yours on the other hand is messy and gross! Therefore, it must be yours!"

Kin sat up after Tracy threw him to the ground and gasped. His Anger clenched his fists and charged for the console.

"Let me at er! Let me at er!"

The other emotions held him back.

"Anger! Chill out, would ya?" Joy insisted.

"No way! She's not gonna get away with this! Nobody talks to Jackie like that!"

"Dude! You can't go up against Tracy!" Fear warned. "She's way bigger than us! And I'm pretty sure she's the spawn of the devil! We'll be creamed!"

Anger grumped. "Fine! I'll let her go _this _time…"

Tracy kept scolding her younger sibling.

"And if I see another disgusting part of your body lying in my room, there's gonna be a lot more parts lying around this house! GOT IT?!"

The selfish teenager stormed out of the garage and slammed the door shut. Kin walked over to Jackie.

"Um…Jackie?" he said shyly. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Jackie looked down. "Oh yeah. I'm fine."

Jackie's emotions started talking about what happened.

"I can't believe we have to live with that demon we call a sister!" Anger whined. "I really hope we're adopted!"

"Yeah, our real parents must have been upset with us so they gave us up to some random family with an evil teenager to punish us." Sadness claimed.

"Well, I don't know about that." Joy responded. "But at least Kin was nice enough to check up on us. He's such a sweet guy."

"He is sweet." Fear agreed. "But he's also a little weird now that I think about it."

"Not to mention gross!" Disgust added.

"He is not." Joy insisted.

"It's true!"

Jackie's Disgust retrieved a green colored memory from the recall tube and showed it to Joy.

"See? He picks his nose, remember?"

"Yeah, so? A lot of guys do."

Disgust recalled another green memory.

"Oh yeah? Well do a lot of guys booty-pop without their pants on? That is sick!"

"And scary!" Fear shuddered.

"Not to mention, his brother has gas. Like, all the time!"

Joy sent the memories back up the tube.

"Well, sure. But we need to look past all of that. After all, think about how much he's done for us!"

She recalled a few memories of her own.

"Like the time he brought our math homework to school, or the time he helped us make jam for the summer jam contest…ooh! This is one of my favorites! The time he rescued us from the nightmare band in Tracy's dreams!"

"Now that was really scary!" Fear cried.

"And sad." Sadness went on. "I remember how much Jackie cried after Mirage Band's spell was lifted from her."

Joy didn't like listening to Sadness ramble on about Jackie's sad memories so she changed the subject.

"Okay enough reminiscing people! We've gotta get back to work!" she went up to the console and pressed a button to make Jackie say something to Kin.

"Okay Kin. I guess since we're only going to be using that thing on Tracy, we can give it a try. I mean, your spirit camera did work out in the end."

"Really? Awesome!" Kin fist pumped.

"I just have one question. How are we going to zap Tracy with your machine?"

"We'll have to lull her back in the garage. Luckily, I know just how to do it!"

Kin held up the strand of hair Tracy dropped.

"We'll just sneak into Tracy's room and drop your hair on the floor. Then when she comes down here to scold you, I'll zap her!"

Kon raised his hand rapidly.

"Ooh, ooh! Kin! Can I be the one to push the button?"

Kin rolled his eyes. "Okay, but not until-"

Kon wouldn't let him finish though and snatched the machine out of his twin brother's hands.

"Yay! Buttons!" the drummer pushed the button and the device started glowing.

**ZAP!**

A blue laser came out of the crystal ball and it hit Jackie.

Kin gasped. "Jackie! No!"

Grojband took a few steps back and watched in horror as their manager started splitting herself up. Then a huge cloud of smoke covered the band. Everyone coughed as the smoke cleared. Laney was the first to see what the machine had done.

"Whoa! Guys look!" she pointed ahead.

The guys looked up and were shocked to see that Jackie was no longer there. Instead, there were five slightly smaller and brightly colored copies of her standing in a row.

"Whoa. What happened to Jackie?" Corey wondered.

"The machine works!" Kin exclaimed. "When it zapped her, it split her up into her five main emotions!"

"Where are we?" the purple Jackie quivered. "This doesn't look like Headquarters. How'd we get here? I'm freaking out!"

"Whoa!" the yellow Jackie looked around. "I can't believe it! We're actually in Jackie's garage! This is so exciting!"

"Yuck, you'd think Mom and Dad would have this place cleaned once in a while." the green Jackie complained.

"Eee!" the yellow one squealed and jumped around. "Best day ever! Finally a chance to explore the world from our own perspectives! Who wants a celebratory hug?"

"Don't even think about it!" the red Jackie threatened.

"I kind of miss Headquarters." the blue one moped. "It was darker and it had a lot less space. Plus exploring new places is too tiring."

"Kin! What are we gonna do?" Corey cried out.

Kin beamed. "Wait a minute! Guys! I just realized something! Each one of Jackie's emotions represents a part of her. So that means there has to be at least one of them who's in love with me!"

"Not again…" Laney mumbled.

"Now the real question is, which one is it? Hm…red is the color of love. I'll go with that one."

He went up to the red Jackie and hugged her.

"I bet you've been waiting for this for a long time haven't you?" Kin grinned.

The red Jackie scowled furiously and punched Kin in the face to get him off of her.

"Rule number 1: no touching!" the red Jackie walked out of the garage.

"Ow…" Kin rubbed his cheek. "Okay, not that one. Hm…green's my favorite color. I'll try her next."

Kin stood up and cleared his throat.

"Um…hi." he greeted the green Jackie. "Listen, you're really pretty and I think-"

"Eww!" the green Jackie ran off. "Keep those boogery hands away from me!"

Kin looked at his own hands, confused because he was pretty sure they were clean. He chose to ignore this and moved on to the purple Jackie.

"Hey there, I was just wondering-"

The purple Jackie shrieked and followed the green Jackie out of the garage. Kin glanced at the remaining two emotions. He decided to talk to the yellow one.

"So…uh…you're a fifth of Jackie's personality, right? I guess that means you know an awful lot about her. Do you think you could tell me what she thinks about-"

The yellow Jackie screamed in delight.

"I'm in the real world! I'm in the real world!" she sang while skipping out of the garage. "Time to make some happy memories!"

Kin finally looked over at the blue Jackie who was sitting in a corner, resting her cheek on her hand. The short keyboardist walked over to her and sat with her.

"Hey. What's wrong with you? You don't seem as talkative as the other Jackies. Speaking of which, aren't you gonna go with them?"

"No. I'm not like those other emotions. I like being alone." the blue Jackie reached her hand out toward Kin so she could shake his hand. "I'm Sadness by the way."

"Oh. Uh…I'm Kin."

"Yeah, I know who you are."

"You do?"

"All of us do. I mean, we are Jackie's emotions after all. We know everything about what goes on in her life. We're also the ones who shape her personality, create memories, and help her remember them."

"Really? Fascinating! I had no idea emotions could do all that!"

"That's not all. Each one of us has a certain job to help out Jackie. Joy keeps her happy, Fear keeps her safe, Anger keeps things fair, and Disgust keeps her from getting poisoned, physically and socially."

"And what do you do?"

"That's the thing. Nobody knows what I do. Not even I know. I guess you could say I'm the outcast of the group."

"Oh come on. Don't be like that. I'm sure you have some purpose in Jackie's life."

"Doubtful."

Kin frowned. He remembered how much he hated seeing Jackie so sad. Sure, it was only one part of her but he still didn't like it. The good thing about it was that he would always be there to try to make her feel better. So he started rubbing her back in a circular motion. The other band members met up with him.

"So…Kin?" Laney began. "Aren't you going to tell us how to change Jackie back to normal?"

"Huh?" Kin looked up. "Oh. Yeah. Actually, there's no way I can make her whole again unless all five of her emotions are in the same room. And the only one here is Sadness. The rest of them kind of stepped out."

"C'mon gang!" Corey announced. "It's up to us to fix our manager! Let's go!"

Corey, Laney, and Kon ran out of the garage while Kin stayed with Jackie's Sadness. Kon came back in.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Oh." Kin tried to come up with a good excuse. "I'm gonna stay here with Sadness. You know, in case she tries to escape."

Kon was very suspicious. So were his emotions.

"C'mon bro!" Anger started. "Do you really think we're that stupid? Why don't you just tell us Jackie's way more important than spending any time with your only twin brother?"

"I know right?" Disgust added. "So lame."

"He doesn't love us anymore!" Sadness bawled. "We're gonna be alone for the rest of our life!"

Fear patted Sadness on the back as he cried.

"Cheer up guys!" Joy said positively. "Kin would never forget about us. Hey, I know what'll lift everyone's spirits! DRUM SOLO!"

All of the emotions cheered and they started playing on their own drum sets. This made Kon play along with them. Kin and Sadness stared at Kon awkwardly for he wasn't actually playing anything. The drummer opened his eyes and realizing he didn't have his drums with him, stopped playing. He then slowly backed out of the garage to catch up with Corey and Laney.

**DRUM SOLO TRANSITION!**

Tracy and Macy were at the mall shopping for new tank tops.

"I'm going to get this coral one with the orange straps!" Tracy said. "It's totes adorbs, isn't it Macy?"

"Disgust, the outfit you picked out is perfect!" Tracy's Joy complimented. "That's sure to help us stand out and maybe even get noticed by hunky Rick Salary!"

Disgust grinned. "There'll be no bad fashion sense with this girl around!"

"I don't know." Macy interrupted. "I kind of like this turquoise one with blue straps. I mean, the coral one is still cool, I just think the turquoise one is a teensy weensy bit better. Kind of."

"Did she just disagree with us?" Anger stomped over to the console. "Oh, she is so not getting away with this! Time to take action!"

Anger was about to press a big red button with the word 'DIARY' on it, but Joy stopped her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You know we only press that button in dire situations or when Tracy gets wound up with one of us emotions. You know, like when we take a bite out of Swiss chocolate or get a kiss from Rick Salary!"

"Yeah, or when we're surrounded by hundreds of scary puppets!" Fear shrieked.

"Or when we lose our favorite sweater Pinkcredible…" Sadness groaned.

"That's all you can think of? Ha!" Anger laughed. "I can think of a hundred reasons to press that button! Especially if all of those reasons have to do with our snot-nosed little sister and her irritating band!"

"You use that button way too much Anger." Joy noted. "Some of us want the chance to use it too you know. You've pressed that button twenty-three times in this entire fanfic **(A/N: Yes, I know it's actually twenty-four times but I'm not counting the one where Macy went diary)** and I've only pressed it four times!"

"I pressed it twice…" Sadness said.

"You're lucky!" Fear claimed. "I only got to press it once!"

"She's lucky?" Disgust scoffed. "All of you are lucky. When I try to push that thing, nothing happens. It doesn't even work for me!"

"That's cause you're a weaker emotion!" Anger remarked. "Anyway, why shouldn't I be the one to make Tracy go diary all the time? There's lots of things in this world she should be mad about! Like our nerdy best friend having an opinion that's different from ours! "

"Okay, tell you what." Joy sat Anger down near the console. "I'll let you deal with Macy. You can say or do anything you want to her but you cannot press that button. Is that understood?"

"Ugh…fine." Anger took control of Tracy.

"Macy, did you just…disagree with me?!"

"What? Uh…no Tracy! Of course not!"

Tracy gasped. "You did it again!"

"No! I didn't! I mean, yes I did, I mean, no I-"

The emotions in Macy's brain were getting into a panic.

"Oh no!" Fear exclaimed. "Tracy's getting mad at us! When she gets mad, who knows what could happen? What if she says we can't be her BFF anymore?"

"Then we'll have to go back to being a hopeless drip with no friends." Sadness said.

"We can't let that happen!" Disgust worried. "Without Tracy, we're unpopular!"

"I'd rather be unpopular than be stuck with this stuck-up brat for the rest of our lives!" Anger argued. "I say we stand up to her!"

Joy stepped in. "Or, we could try saying something nice to her to get her to calm down. Watch and learn." she pressed a button on the console.

"You know what Tracy? I think coral is a good color on you. Forget turquoise! No way! Blech!"

Tracy nodded. "That's better. Now let's go find some cute matching socks!"

The two were about to leave until they spotted someone very familiar across from them looking at the displays. It looked a lot like Jackie except her skin was green and she had a disgusted look on her face. Tracy was disgusted as well.

"Jackie?! Ugh, what is she doing here? I can't shop til I drop if she's in my line of vision! C'mon!"

The selfish teen stormed up to the green girl.

"Hey squirt!"

"Um, excuse me?" Jackie's Disgust said. "You know it's polite to address people by their actual names."

"Don't get cute with me pipsqueak! Why are you here?"

"What? A girl can't buy new clothes once in a while? Get your priorities straight."

Tracy was flabbergasted.

"W-What did you just say to me?!"

"Now can you get out of the way? I wanna look at those blouses. That turquoise one is totally cute."

As 'Jackie' walked away, Tracy became very confused. And angry.

"Why that little…how dare she talk to me like that! Nobody sasses me!"

"That's weird. Since when does Jackie have such a bad attitude? And when did she get so…green?" Macy pointed out.

"Who cares? She'd better stay out of my way! Otherwise, I'll have to teach her a lesson she won't ever forget!"

The so-called best friends left the store while Jackie's Disgust continued to browse. Then suddenly, a giant net came down on top of her.

"Hey!"

As it turns out, Laney was holding the net and she was with Corey and Kon.

"Got er!" she cheered.

"Yes!" Corey high-fived Kon. "I knew that giant net store across the street would come in handy someday! One down, three to go!"

"Ugh, you could have at least cleaned this thing before you used it." Disgust gagged. "I mean, c'mon!"

**NETS ARE BETTER WHEN THEY'RE CLEAN!**

After they were done shopping, Tracy and Macy headed to the gym so Tracy could watch Rick Salary do his daily workout.

"Boy, it sure is crowded in here." Macy observed. "How are we supposed to find Rick?"

"Oh please!" Tracy scoffed. "My brain has a built in Hunk Detector. It'll be easy!"

"Activate the Hunk Detector!" Joy ordered.

The other emotions started pushing some buttons in order to make Tracy scan the entire gym. Finally, she spotted Rick.

"Gasp! There he is!"

Rick was lying on a mat doing sit-ups. His emotions were hard at work.

"Nice job team." Joy said. "Rick Salary says Rick Salary is looking good."

The others nodded.

"Rick thinks Rick will get all of the ladies."

"Rick Salary agrees."

"Rick is with you."

"Nobody's cooler than us Ricks."

Tracy sighed blissfully as she stared at Rick. But then her view was blocked by a red figure standing in front of him.

"Huh?" Tracy went.

"Hey you!" the red figure pointed at Tracy. "Out of the way!"

Tracy automatically recognized this person and growled menacingly.

"She's following me! That's it!"

She ran over to what she thought was Jackie, who was currently beating up a punching bag.

"Okay! I've had enough of you, you little twerp! You've got three seconds to get out of here or else!"

Jackie's Anger stopped punching and faced the taller girl.

"Ooh, I'm so scared! Put a sock in it she-beast! I'm busy."

"Oh, more backtalk, eh? Now you're really gonna get it sister!"

Anger got in Tracy's face.

"The only one who's going to be 'getting it' is you unless you quit running your mouth! So I suggest you button it up before I do it for you! Got it?!"

Jackie's Anger punched the punching bag one more time, causing it to knock Tracy to the ground. Then she walked right out the gym doors.

Macy helped her friend up.

"She won't get away that easy!" Tracy ran out the door and looked around for the red Jackie. "All right Jackie, where are you? You can't hide from me!"

She looked to her right and saw Jackie's Fear walking by herself timidly.

"Ah-ha! Gotcha!"

The older Matthews girl zipped up to the purple Jackie and grabbed her by the shirt collar.

"AAA!" Fear screamed.

"I've had enough of you ruining my perfect day! It's pounding time!"

"No! Please! Don't hurt me! Whatever it is I did to you, I'm sorry!"

"Too late for apologies now! You messed with the bull and now you've gotta face the consequences!"

Tracy was about to punch Fear in the face but then she stopped.

"Wait a second…wasn't your skin red before?"

"N-n-no…I've always had purple skin. You must be talking about Anger."

"What?"

"You rang?" a voice said from behind Tracy.

Tracy looked behind her and saw the same red Jackie from before. She couldn't believe her eyes. She looked at the red one, then at the purple one. Then back at the red one and back at the purple one.

"Two?" she muttered. "There are two Jackies? No. No, no, no, no, no! That can't be right! It's impossible! There can't be two Jackies!"

"There aren't!" a yellow Jackie popped up in the middle. "Because now there are three!"

Tracy screamed and ran away.

"There's more than one of them!"

"Gosh Joy, I think you scared her." Fear said.

"Aw, who cares?" Anger shrugged. "She was nothing but a pain anyway."

"At least now we're all together so nothing bad can happen!" Joy reminded them.

But she was proven wrong when a cage came down and trapped all three of them. Laney and Kon were standing on top of a building with Disgust who was still trapped under the net.

"Good job gang!" Corey came up to the cage and patted one of the bars. "They're not going anywhere now!"

"Woohoo!" they all cheered.

"Hey! You can't capture me! That's not fair!" Anger shook the bars of the cage. "Let me out right now or you'll be sorry!"

Fear covered her eyes. "Oh, what are they going to do to us? I can't look!"

"We're not going to hurt you." Corey reassured her. "But you have to come back to the garage right now so we can put our manager back together!"

"Why should we go back?" Anger questioned. "You can't make us!"

"Yeah, and plus this world is fun!" Joy jumped up.

"And that garage of yours reeks! There's no way I'm going back there!" Disgust crossed her arms.

"Core, how are we going to convince them to come with us?" Laney asked.

"Hang on! I'm thinking!" Corey scratched his chin and his emotions started helping him think.

"Okay guys!" Joy told the others. "We need to figure out how to get Jackie's emotions on our side! Any ideas?"

"We could always threaten them!" Anger punched his palm.

"I think begging would be a better tactic." Fear argued.

"Why don't we bribe them with candy or something?" Disgust thought out loud.

"Maybe…" Joy looked over at Sadness. "Sadness? You got anything?"

"Giving up comes to mind."

Joy's ears perked up as he heard Corey's Train of Thought delivering some idea light bulbs. He started digging through some of them and beamed when he found one that could help. He tossed it toward his fellow emotions.

"Guys! Put that in the console!"

"What is it?" Fear wondered.

"A crazy plan that just might work!"

The others plugged in the bulb and it gave Corey an idea.

"You know, one thing I've noticed about you guys is how different you all are." he began. "But there's one thing that all of you have in common. Do you know what that is?"

Jackie's emotions shook their heads.

"You're all about taking care of people. Think about it! It's you guys together that make people happy. It's you guys together that help them grow up and achieve their goals. And most importantly, it's you guys together that make someone unique. Let's face it. Jackie's life would be terrible if she didn't have all of you inside her. If even one of you disappears, she just wouldn't be herself. That's why we need all four of you to come back to the garage so you can make her whole again. She needs you to come back. Plus, we want her to come back."

Laney and Kon looked down sadly. After a few seconds of silence, Joy spoke up.

"He's right." she said. "Jackie can't be happy if I'm not there helping her smile."

"Who knows what kind of dangers she could get herself into?" Fear worried.

"And what kinds of foods she'll eat?" Disgust added.

"And she won't be able to stand up to Tracy if I'm not around." Anger continued.

"All right Corey!" Joy decided. "We're going back!"

"Yay!" Grojband exclaimed happily.

Meanwhile, back at the garage, Kin was still chatting with Sadness.

"So I know you have to be sad because it's your job and everything, but is there anything that makes you happy?" Kin asked.

"Not really. Sometimes Joy tries to make me smile by showing me some of Jackie's happy memories but I only think about what's sad about them. Like the time Jackie found you in her garage for the first time and became your friend. It makes me cry every time."

Kin was confused. "What? How can being friends with us be a sad thing?"

"Think about it. You're all from a different world so you probably don't age the same way Jackie does. You probably don't even age at all. That means you'll stay young while Jackie grows up. One day she'll be in college and you won't be able to go with her because you'll be the same age you are now and won't be old enough. Not that it would matter anyway because Jackie will already have outgrown and forgotten you by then and will have found new friends. And even if she is still friends with you, you'll have to watch her grow old and eventually die." Sadness sniffled and wiped some tears from her eyes.

"No, that can't be right!"

"I know, the truth is sad."

Kin then remembered something.

"Wait a minute! Remember when I sent Jackie and the other guys one year into the future? I was a year older by the time they came back! That means we'll all age the same way as her! See?"

Sadness's lip quivered and then she started crying really loud.

"What? What's wrong?"

"If you all age at the same time as Jackie, then you'll all die with her!"

Kin hugged Sadness's waist.

"Oh there, there. Don't cry. Shh…it's okay."

At that moment, Tracy and Macy arrived home.

"I'm telling you! There were three of her! And they all had different colored skin! Am I like, going crazy or what?!" Tracy covered her face in terror.

"Don't worry Tracy." Macy rubbed her back. "I'm sure it was just a hallucination."

"Well it wasn't! There was a red one, a yellow one, a purple one…" she gasped mid-sentence. "And then there was that green one at the mall! Mom and Dad must have had quadruplets! And somehow they all died their skin different colors to drive me crazy! Oh well, at least I'm home and hopefully I'll never have to see-aaah!"

When Tracy entered the garage she was horrified to see Kin comforting another Jackie of a different color.

"There's a blue one too?!" Tracy felt dizzy and the next thing she knew, her head hit the floor and she became unconscious. Macy gasped and quickly dragged her friend to her room.

Kin and Sadness acted like they didn't see them. Then Corey, Laney, and Kon came in with the four other emotions.

"Mission accomplished!" Corey announced. "All of Jackie's emotions are together again!"

"Awesome!" Kin stood up. "Okay girls! Line up! This won't hurt a bit!"

The young scientist picked up his machine and aimed it at Joy, Disgust, Fear, and Anger. Then he realized that someone was missing.

"C'mon Sadness! You too!"

But Sadness wasn't eager to join her fellow emotions.

"Thanks but…I'm not going."

"What?!" Jackie's emotions cried.

"But why?" Corey asked.

"Jackie doesn't need me. I don't have any purpose in her life like the rest of you do. All I do is make her cry. She's better off without me."

"That's not true Sadness!" Joy tried to cheer her up. "You do lots of other things like um…uh…well there's…"

Disgust, Anger, and Fear began to think as well but none of them could come up with a good reason as to why Jackie needed Sadness.

But then, with the help of his emotions, Kin recalled the memory of Jackie hugging him earlier that day.

"But Sadness, don't you remember this morning when I cried in front of Jackie?"

"Yeah. You were upset because she didn't like your invention."

"Uh-huh, but then she gave me a hug and I felt much better."

"So? It's not like the Sadness in your head was the one who made you happy."

"No, but I never would have been happy if I hadn't been so sad at first. Because being sad was what got Jackie to hug me in the first place!"

"So…what does that mean?"

"It means you are important! Just as important as the other emotions! It's you who brings Jackie's friends and family closer. It's you who makes Jackie feel better after a good sad session. And most of all, it's you who gives me the chance to cheer up my favorite manager whenever she's feeling down." Kin took Sadness by the hands. "That's why I want to thank you."

Sadness looked at her and Kin's hands touching and then back at Kin. Her blue face turned red and her heart started beating rapidly.

"Aww…that's so cute!" Joy cooed.

"Blech!" Disgust pointed a finger in her mouth.

"C'mon! Hurry up already!" Anger demanded.

"You'd better get a move on." Kin let go of Sadness's hands.

"Uh…y-yeah…" Sadness nodded and got in line with her fellow emotions.

Kin once again, picked up his invention.

"Ready?"

"Kin?" Kon interrupted. "Can I-?"

Kin sighed. "Fine."

"Yay!" Kon pressed the button and…

**ZAP!**

All five Jackies merged together, creating one whole Jackie again. Grojband cheered before giving their manager a group hug.

Later that night, Jackie was getting ready for bed. Her emotions were happy to be back at Headquarters where they belonged.

"Boy, today was a blast!" Joy said. "But it sure is great to be back home!"

"I'll say!" Fear agreed.

The five were looking out the window and admiring Jackie's Islands of Personality. There were lots of them but the biggest and most favorable one of all was Grojband Island.

"I'm just glad this whole mess is over!" Anger grumbled.

"Me too!" Disgust added. "The real world is pretty but it can also be really gross!"

Joy looked back at the main screen and saw Jackie closing her eyes.

"Good work today team! Another perfect day! Let's make sure tomorrow's an even better one!"

She pulled a lever and sent all of the day's memories down to Long-Term. But not before she noticed a space on one of the shelves. She could have sworn the shelf was full.

"Meh." she figured she was just seeing things and went off to bed with Anger, Disgust, and Fear.

Sadness stayed at the console for she had Dream Duty that night. Normally, Dream Productions, the studio in Jackie's brain, would be showing one of their films, but Sadness had something else in mind for that night. She crawled under the console and took out the missing memory she had been hiding under there. Then she placed the memory into the projector so Jackie could remember it. It was the memory of her hugging Kin after he had cried. Sadness watched the memory over and over again and then, for the first time ever, she smiled.

"I love you Kin Kujira." she said.

* * *

**And now a look inside the author's head...**

**Joy: Yay! We finally finished the chapter! Writing it was so much fun!**

**Fear: Have people started reviewing it yet? What if they don't like it? I don't think I can handle so much constructive criticism!**

**Anger: Let's just hope that dumb Doc Manager doesn't screw up next time we try to upload something.**

**Disgust: Ugh, our hands are all sweaty from typing so much. We're so making the next one shorter.**

**Sadness: Boy, the readers are going to be disappointed when they learn we're not done with the next chapter. **

**Sorry, I couldn't resist! Ha, ha! This is pretty much what I'm thinking whenever I upload something. I don't know when I'll get another one up but it probably won't be tomorrow since I'm only five hundred words in. I'll try to get it done sometime this week though. See you all again soon!**


	42. Zero to Sun

**I think I'm getting better at writing these. This one only took about a week to finish and I'd say it came out pretty good. This chapter is based off a request from muffins are good and they said:  
**

**"Hey so um... this is just what i think so yeah...What if jackie and grojband throw a summer bash when jackie's school year is over . But the day couldn't be more wrong for rocklord had a story saying that 'the curse sun king' will bring havoc. So the crew tries to defeat the curse also keeping everyone happy from the exteme heat from curse."****  
**

**This will be the last original chapter for a while because like I said, I want to get 10 more episodes done before the special multi-part chapters come out. So if there are any episodes that you would like to see besides the six that need to be saved, please let me know. In the meantime, please enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 42**

**Zero to Sun**

Summer had just started in Jackie's neighborhood. The good news: school was out which meant that there would be more time for Jackie to help Grojband find gigs in town. The bad news: The humidity was so high, the band couldn't focus on playing music.

"All right guys." Jackie moaned from her seat while wiping some sweat from her forehead. "From the top."

"One, two, three…" Kon tried to count them in but fell over from how hot he was.

Corey panted weakly.

"Must…play…riff…can't…live…without…music!"

"Ugh…" Laney groaned. "This is the worst heatwave Tranquil Town has ever had. What's the temperature out there Kin?"

Kin pulled out his phone.

"102 degrees. I guess we should be lucky that it's Fahrenheit and not Celsius." he slammed his head against his keyboard.

"Man, if only there was some way to beat this heat." Jackie wished. "Some summer vacation this turned out to be."

That's when Corey got an idea.

"You're right Jacks! Summer shouldn't start off like this! That's why we need to make it better!"

"How Core?" Laney asked.

"By throwing the biggest summer solstice bash in history! It'll be awesome! We'll have swimming pools for all the sweltering patrons, hot dogs and hamburgers straight from the grill, and best of all, musical accompaniment! Provided by us."

"Sounds fun!" Jackie noted.

Kin and Kon perked up.

"Party time!" they both shrieked.

"But Core, we don't even have lyrics for our new song." Laney reminded the blue-haired kid. "How are we supposed to promote the joys of summer without words?"

"Lanes, I know it's kind of hard to in this weather, but chill out!" Corey patted her cheek. "Lyrics will come eventually."

Hearts came out of Laney and she passed out. Corey didn't even notice.

"C'mon gang! Time to make ourselves even cooler!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Jackie and Grojband started setting up for the party in Jackie's backyard.

"Hey Jackie!" Kin held up a deflated pool. "Watch this!"

The keyboardist started blowing into the valve to fill the pool up with air. The pool only inflated a little bit, however, and he had to stop to catch his breath.

"Hold on a second…" he took a deep breath and blew with all his might. The pool was almost fully inflated until Kin's face started turning purple from lack of oxygen. He panted and wheezed and after a few seconds, the pool deflated.

Kin fell over from exhaustion. Then Kon came over and blew the entire pool up in one breath.

"Wow Kon!" Jackie said impressed. "You must have a good set of lungs!"

Kon gave the pool back to Kin.

"Here you go dude."

Kin just snatched it away and gave his brother a scowl.

"Thanks bro…" he stomped off.

Kon just shrugged. "What'd I do?

Meanwhile back in the house, Tracy was getting ready to go out to the backyard to work on her tan. Macy was with her to help carry her stuff out and to get her drinks whenever she wanted one.

"Hurry up Macy!" Tracy ordered. "Every minute you spend being all slow and whatnot is another minute of daylight wasted! I have to get totally tanned before summer's over so I can impress hunky Rick Salary!"

"Coming Tracy!" Macy grunted for she was struggling to carry all of Tracy's 'equipment'. In other words, fourteen bottles of suntan lotion, twenty different hats, forty pairs of sunglasses, a towel, a fan, a side table (to put drinks on), and a lawn chair. However, when Tracy made it outside, she was shocked to see she wouldn't have any room to put her things. That was because the backyard was full of kids in bathing suits. Some were helping themselves to hamburgers and hot dogs. Others were chatting in the wading pools.

"What are all these people doing in my sunlight?!" Tracy complained to Macy. Then she spotted her sister and Grojband standing on a wooden stage. She growled and ran up to them.

"Oh hey sis!" Jackie offered Tracy a glass. "Care for some fresh lemonade?"

The selfish teen smacked it out of her hands.

"Tell all your dorky friends to get lost!" she demanded. "It's tanning season which means the backyard is mine for the next two months!"

"Well Mom and Dad said that me and my friends could throw a big summer blowout today." Jackie explained. "So I guess your skin will just have to stay light this year."

"Ohh snap!" Corey high-fived Laney.

"Grrr!" Tracy grabbed Macy's shirt collar and dragged her away. "This so isn't over!"

"Man, this party was an awesome idea Corey!" Kon complimented the band leader.

"Yeah, our brand new song is sure to cool off everyone!" Kin added.

"Our brand new song that doesn't have any lyrics." Laney hinted.

Corey scoffed. "C'mon Lanes. Don't you ever say anything new?"

"Well, I think we did pretty good." Jackie continued. "There's absolutely nothing that could ruin this day!"

"Except maybe the sun king's curse." Kin replied.

"Sun king's curse?" Laney asked. "What's that?"

"We thought you'd never ask!" Kon joined hands with Kin and they started explaining the legend of the sun king.

"A long, long time ago, there was a village known for its high temperatures and occasional fires."

"The village was ruled by the great King Scorcheus. He was practically best friends with the sun. To him, any day that was hot was a good day."

"But soon the villagers grew tired of the nonstop heat and decided to transform the flaming town into a ski resort. And for a while, they were actually pretty happy."

"Until Scorcheus found out and got so angry, he melted all of the snow and cursed the townspeople!"

"The whole village underwent three horrible stages of intense heat! First, the people's skin turned dark red, even the parts covered by clothing! Then meteors fell from the sky, and finally, the ground set on fire and it burned the whole place down!"

"Yeesh, sounds scary." Jackie noted. "But I'm sure we have nothing to worry about. After all, this is a backyard, not a ski resort!"

Tracy and Macy were hiding in the bushes, listening in on the twins' story.

"Macy! Did you hear that?"

"Yeah. I don't believe a word of it." the girl in glasses responded. "The whole idea of a curse brought upon by a village king sounds ridiculous."

"But it's the perfect idea to get these lazy losers out of my backyard!"

"I'm sorry. I don't follow."

"Ugh, just follow me."

**TRACY'S GOT AN EVIL PLAN!**

A few minutes later, Tracy and Macy returned to the backyard with some supplies.

"Phase one!" Tracy announced. "Let's knock these dweebs out cold! Macy?"

The red-head nodded and pulled out a few bags of sleeping powder. She then proceeded to dump a little in every glass of lemonade. The kids drank them and immediately fell asleep. Once they were all knocked out, Macy snuck away. Then Jackie and Grojband came back outside, carrying a few beach balls.

"Okay everyone! Who's ready for some volleyball?" Jackie called but nobody answered.

The five friends looked below them and saw that all of the guests were fast asleep.

"Huh." Corey shrugged, not suspecting a thing. "Guess they wanted to do some sunbathing. Oh well."

"Hey guys!" Kon picked up a tray on a nearby side table. "Check it out! Five suspiciously placed glasses of lemonade!"

"Well, I am pretty parched." Jackie said taking a glass. "I think we all deserve a little break."

The other four took a glass as well.

"To Grojband!" the five clinked their glasses together and took a sip.

"Huh, does this lemonade taste funny to you guys?" Jackie asked.

Corey licked his lips.

"Hm…I guess it does have a hint of…" his eyelids got droopy. "Sleeping powder…"

The front man's head hit the grass and he started snoring. The others did the same.

"Yes!" Tracy fist-pumped. "Macy? Did you bring the coloring?"

Macy reached into a bag and pulled out a bucket of red paint.

"Sure did Tracy!"

"Perfect…"

About an hour later, Jackie's eyes fluttered open. She sat up and yawned.

"Well, that sure was a nice nap. Hey guys I-"

The brunette stopped when she saw how red her hands were. Then she saw her legs. She was red all over!

"AAAAA!" she screamed causing the others to wake up.

Corey rubbed his eyes.

"Huh? What's going on Jacks?"

The band found out that their skin was red too.

"AAAAA!" they shrieked.

The party guests were already awake and they were freaking out over their red bodies.

"How did this happen?" Jackie panicked. "How did we all turn red in under an hour?"

"Yeah!" Corey agreed. "Especially since we put on sunscreen!"

"Oh no!" Kin realized. "The sun king's curse! It's coming true! This is the first stage! Dark red skin!"

Laney scoffed. "Oh please. We probably just sat in the sun too long and got sunburned. No big deal.

"That's just what Scorcheus wants us to believe Laney!" Kon claimed. "His spirit is angry at us for trying to cool off on the hottest day of the year! And now…we're cursed!"

"I'm gonna have to agree with Laney on this one guys." Jackie said. "I don't think even sunscreen can protect us from the rays today."

Tracy was watching from the roof of the house.

"You're right about that Jackie." she giggled. "Just like umbrellas won't protect you from what's coming next!"

"All right everybody! Just remain calm!" Jackie told the guests. "I know just the thing to take our minds off these bad sunburns! Who's up for some backyard volleyball?"

Everyone shouted excitedly. Soon, they were all having a good time spiking the ball back and forth and they forgot about their 'sunburns'.

"Hey! Throw it to me!" Kon waved his arms in the air. "Me next!"

The kid who had the ball hit it over a net and it hit Kon in the face.

"Yes!" the kid high-fived his teammate. "Our point!"

"I gotta say," Kin said to Jackie. "That was a good idea distracting everyone with a game. You know, maybe you're right. Maybe we're not cursed by King Scorcheus. Who believes in him anyway?"

Jackie raised an eyebrow. "I thought you did Kin."

Kin blushed. "Who me? Are you kidding? Why would I believe in a silly thing like that? I was just pretending to for Kon's sake. Being his older brother and all, I have to stick up for him."

"Time for phase two!" Tracy informed Macy. "Prepare the 'meteors'!"

Macy reached into another bag and pulled out a charcoal briquette. She was about to throw it but Tracy stopped her.

"Not yet! We've gotta find our first target first!" she scanned the entire backyard and finally spotted Jackie talking with Kin. "Heh, heh, heh! Say goodnight Jackie! Ready…aim…"

Macy leaned her arm back, ready to throw.

"FIRE!"

Macy grunted as she flung the briquette toward Jackie. However, it flew right past her and bonked Kin on the head, causing him to fall down.

Jackie gasped. "Kin!"

"Ugh! Nice going Macy! You hit Klutzy Nerd instead of Bratty Sister!" Tracy took the bag. "Do I have to do everything myself or whatever?"

Jackie kneeled down and lifted Kin's head up.

"Kin, are you okay?"

Kin sat up. "Yeah, I think so. Something came out of nowhere and hit me."

Tracy threw another briquette at Jackie but it landed in front of her.

"Wait, what's this?" Jackie picked it up.

"It kind of looks like…"

Even more charcoal came down and hit some of the party guests.

"METEORS!" Kin screamed.

Everyone else screamed too and ran around in circles. Corey opened the gate to the backyard and led the party guests away from the meteor shower.

"Yes!" Tracy jumped with joy. "Finally! Now I can totes get my tan on without any annoyances! But just in case they decide to come back…Macy! Prepare for the final phase!"

Jackie and Grojband panted.

"Huh, that's weird." Corey observed. "The meteor shower stopped once we got out of the backyard! It's like it was only aimed at us!"

"That is weird." Jackie nodded.

"Yeah, reddened skin is one thing, but this?" Laney added. "Something's definitely going on."

"It's the sun king's curse!" Kon persuaded. "That's what's going on!"

"Not this again." Laney rolled her eyes.

"It's true!" Kin concurred. "Meteors falling from the sky is the second stage!"

"Okay, you're really confusing me now Kin." Jackie interrupted. "Do you believe in the sun king or not?"

Kin became nervous. "Yes. I mean, no! Er…maybe? Kon! Back me up here!"

"I would bro, but I'm like, way too hot to argue about rock lore right now." the drummer removed the red sweatband from his forehead and squeezed all of the sweat out.

That's when Jackie noticed Kon's forehead.

"Wait a minute. Kon! Your forehead! It's not red!"

"Yeah, that's because I always keep my sweatband over it. It's the only red you'll ever see on this guy's head!"

Jackie snapped her fingers. "Ah-ha!"

"Ah-ha what?" Corey asked.

"Don't you guys remember? According to rock lore, King Scorcheus made everybody's skin turn completely red! Even the parts covered by clothing! If we were really under the curse, then Kon's forehead would be red even though his sweatband would be covering it up! But since it isn't, we're not cursed!"

Kin had hearts in his eyes. "She actually listened to my story…she cares…"

"_Our _story." Kon corrected.

"But what about the meteor shower?" Laney asked.

"Guys!" Corey yelled from the bushes near the fence. "Look what I found!"

The beanie-wearing boy held up two things. The first was a bag filled with charcoal briquettes and the other was an empty can of red paint.

"What is it Core?" Laney wondered.

"The source of our sunburns and the meteors! And check out the notes I found inside of em!"

He handed both of the notes to Jackie and she read them aloud.

"'Property of Macy Matterson. If found please return'."

"But why would Macy play such a cruel joke on us?" Kin inquired.

"Because Tracy forced her to!" Jackie concluded. "It all makes sense now! Tracy tricked us into thinking we were cursed to scare us out of the backyard so she could have it all to herself! Little does she know, she can't end our party that easily!"

"She kinda can Jacks." Laney pointed out. "All of the guests ran away. And if even if they were still here, we still wouldn't have any lyrics for a song that'll take their minds off this heat!"

"We'll get lyrics Laney. But first, we need to send out a last-minute invitation…"

**SUNBURNED HANDS TRANSITION!**

Jackie stood over the fence while looking through a pair of binoculars.

"Do you see him yet?" Corey asked.

"Where is he?" Laney added.

"He is coming isn't he?" Kin joined in.

"There he is! I see him!" Jackie opened the gate to let her last-minute party guest inside. "Thanks for coming at such short notice Rick. I really appreciate it."

"Rick would never miss out on a backyard pool party."

Jackie started whispering to the band.

"Okay guys, just act natural."

Grojband nodded and they began to play a game of volleyball.

Tracy and Macy were watching from the sliding glass door. They hadn't seen Rick yet.

"Macy? Get ready for phase three!"

"You got it T!" Macy pulled a magnifying glass out of her skirt pocket and slid the door open. She pointed the magnifying glass toward the sun which caused the grass to set on fire.

Corey saw the fire starting to spread slowly and signaled to his bandmates to play along with him.

"Oh no guys! Look! It's the last stage of the sun king's curse! Run away!"

Laney, Kin, and Kon screamed and followed Corey to the gate door.

Tracy clutched her stomach. "Ha! Look at those idiots run! They actually believe in that uber lame curse! And check out that kid lying in the lawn chair! He doesn't notice anything! He is so going to get burnt to a-"

The teen stopped mid-sentence when she got a good look at the person in the lawn chair.

"Wait a minute…is that…" Tracy screamed. "Rick!"

The fire surrounded Rick's chair and he looked up from his magazine.

"Whoa. Rick didn't know the heat was this intense."

"Rick! No!" Tracy covered her face. "This is all my fault! I put the hunkiest guy in the world in grave danger! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THE HOT ONES?!"

Tracy blasted into the air surrounded by volleyballs, charcoal briquettes, and suntan lotion. She scowled furiously as she began to write in her diary. When this happened, the swimming pools blasted out all their water. It landed on the grass and put out the fire. Tracy held out her flaming pen and landed inside the house. Corey caught the diary in his hand.

"Okay gang! Let's beat this hot day with our hot new jam!"

The band grabbed their instruments and started playing their new song.

_Sun, sun, sun_

_What have you done?_

_I was just chilling out one summer day_

_But then you came to take my breath and all my fun away_

_I thought that you were cool until you burned my chest_

_You've made the world too hot so why not give it a rest?_

_Sun, sun, sun_

_What have you done?_

The music was loud enough for all of the neighborhood kids to hear. They came back to Jackie's backyard so they could listen.

_But just because you're bigger, even brighter than me_

_Doesn't mean I can't outshine you just wait and see_

_Because I'm the one who knows just how to play it cool_

_While you can't even join me in my swimming pool_

_Sun, sun, sun _

_What have you done?_

_Sun, sun, sun_

_What have you done?_

_Sun, sun, sun_

_What have you done?_

The kids all cheered immensely as the song finished. Jackie applauded for her band.

About an hour later, everybody went home and Jackie and Grojband packed everything up.

"I have to admit, that party was a blast." Laney said. "I feel a lot cooler now."

"Me too!" Kon agreed. "And the best part is there's still tons of sausages left!" he opened his mouth and dropped a dozen hot dogs in it.

"I'm just glad to know there's no such thing as a sun curse." Jackie replied.

"Dunno Jacks. Maybe we've always been cursed by the sun." a spotlight shined on Corey. "Sure, the sun can be our friend sometimes. It can warm us up on a cold winter's day and it can provide us light if all the lightbulbs in the house burn out. But it can also make us sweat like crazy and dry out our tongues. Plus if we stay out in the sun for too long, it punishes us with burning, red skin. Which is why an occasional rainstorm is actually a good thing."

The spotlight disappeared.

"You know Core, we might not have had to let Jackie's backyard get burned up if you had used that in our song." Laney told the guitarist.

"Wow Lanes. It sounds like you just _burned_ me!" Corey poked Laney's nose. "Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**10 chapters until the new story...**

**Kind of ironic how I posted this chapter near the end of summer. Oh well. Anyway, I still need more episodes for the next 10 chapters because so far I only have two more planned. So once again, let me know which episodes you want me to remake. See you all again soon!**


	43. Holofame

**It's nice to be doing episodes again. The best part about these kinds of chapters is that I can get them done in one day. And in the case of this one, I did. This chapter is based on the episode "Hologroj" which was requested by Shelly Marsh. Hope you like it!**

* * *

**Chapter 43**

**Holofame**

One day in Jackie's garage, Kin, Kon, and Laney were playing a game of baseball. Or in this case, melonball.

"Batta, batta swing batta!" Kon shouted.

"So, all I have to do is hit the melon and I get ownership of Kon?" Laney confirmed to Kin.

"That's right!" Kin nodded.

Laney smiled at Kon.

"You're gonna love being my sister!"

Kin threw the melon toward Laney. She swung her bat at it, but it moved past her and she accidentally hit Kon in the head.

"Strike?" Kon said dizzily and then he fainted.

"Hey!" Laney went. "I swung right through it!"

"That's because it's a three-dimensional image formed by light beams!" Kin explained. "Corey had me build him a hologram machine."

Jackie was sitting on the stage.

"Why would Corey want a hologram machine?" she asked.

"I'll let this breaking news story tell you why Jacks!" Corey flipped on the TV.

"An unknown source has claimed that Grojband, a band nobody knew existed has mysteriously disappeared and will no longer be making the music no one has ever heard of!" Buster Newsworthy reported.

"And according to an even more unknown source…" Destiny Providence continued. "Since Grojband's untimely demise, interest in the band has risen above 'Grojband is a thing?'"

"You told the news you were dead?!" Jackie exclaimed.

"Just playing dead." Corey clarified. "Nothing makes a band more popular than a mysterious disappearance and/or presumed death! Our fans will go crazy once they hear the news! And just as our popularity is about to peak…"

"We reemerge to soak up the fame!" Laney finished.

"Not quite Lanes. If we're the band that disappeared, we have to stay disappeared. Until our beyond awesome ghost selves put on a show in the park!"

"But we don't have ghosts of us." Kin reminded Corey.

Corey just smiled and showed Kin the hologram melon.

"Oh…I see."

A few hours later, Kin had finished creating hologram versions of himself and his bandmates. All of them were playing a song on the stage. Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kon got a good look at them.

"Creepy…" they all said.

"They've got our moves and our stage presence," Kin began. "But like us, they don't have lyrics. So until we get some, all they do is post flyers promoting the show, and say this."

The scientist pressed a button to make the Corey hologram talk.

"Are you ready to rock? We'll see you in the park!"

With that, the holograms posted flyers all over the garage. They even planted one on Corey's face.

"Wow Kin…" Jackie struggled to find the right words. "Your holograms are really…unique."

Kin blushed. "Thanks Jackie. I made one of you too."

"What?"

Kin gestured toward a hologram of Jackie. He pressed a button to make her talk.

"Hi there! Look at me! Aren't I pretty?"

Hearts surrounded Kin and he sighed.

Jackie was dumbfounded. "At what point in my life did I say that?"

"Whoa! Great idea Kin!" Corey commented. "If people think Jackie is dead too, our popularity will rise even faster!"

"But Core, we still need lyrics if our 'ghosts' are gonna rock out in the park." Laney pointed out.

Corey put an arm around her, causing her to blush.

"We'll get lyrics fella. The hard part was making the holograms. Let's take a break and feed some squirrels."

Kin and Kon squealed. "Squirrels! Squirrels! Squirrels! Squirrels!"

Jackie and the band left the garage, but not before closing the door to make sure the holograms didn't get out.

Meanwhile, in Tracy's room, Tracy was flirting with a cardboard cutout of Rick Salary. Macy was there too to make the Rick talk back to her.

"Rick says Tracy's face is pretty." Macy imitated the hunk.

"Aw, Rick? This old thing?" Tracy giggled.

"Rick wonders if any of us truly exist."

Tracy glared at her BFF. "Stop reading those dumb philosophy books! It makes you think which makes me think and I can't flirt with you pretending to be Rick if I'm thinking and junk!"

"I just think you could practice deep conversations too." Macy offered.

"No Macy! Less brains, more flirts! Do it again!"

"Hi there!" a familiar voice said from out of nowhere. "Look at me!"

"Of course I'll look at you Ri-" Tracy stopped when she realized whose voice she was hearing. "Macy!"

"Sorry." Macy cleared her throat. "Rick says…"

"Aren't I pretty?"

"Stop doing my sister's super dork voice!" Tracy demanded. "Fake Rick was totally crushing on me!"

"But-but I'm not doing Jackie's voice!" Macy insisted.

"Are you ready to rock?" someone else said. "We'll see you in the park!"

"Ew! Stop doing Beanie Boy's voice too! His is even worse!"

"That wasn't me."

The two girls headed for the garage where the voices were coming from. When they opened the door, they saw the holograms spread out everywhere. The Corey hologram was talking to the TV.

"Are you ready to rock? We'll see you in the park!"

"Hi there!" the Jackie hologram greeted Tracy and Macy. "Look at me! Aren't I pretty?"

Tracy was angry. She held her hand out to Macy.

"Broom me!"

The girl in glasses handed the dark-haired teen a broom which she used to attack the holograms. The holograms were terrified and they ran out of the garage.

"Macy!" Tracy yelled. "Make Rick compliment my broom swinging!"

With no where else to go, the holograms started floating around town to post flyers for the show. The Corey hologram stamped one on a telephone pole.

"We'll see you in the park!" he said before floating away with the others.

Meanwhile, Mayor Swellow was driving his car in traffic. His picture of his mother was strapped in the passenger seat. Then suddenly, a huge crowd of screaming citizens ran by him.

"Are we late for a sidewalk sale?" he asked his mother.

The Corey hologram posted a flyer on the mayor's car.

"We'll see you in the park!"

Mayor Swellow was terrified. He held his mother's picture close.

"Ghosts!" he cried. "The sixth dimension is open Mother!"

In another part of town, the real Jackie and the real Grojband had just finished feeding some squirrels in the park.

"Ahh…" Corey sighed. "Feeding squirrels is the best!"

"Yeah, they're so furry and cute!" Jackie cooed.

Kon was covered in bruises. "Until you ask to share and they get all greedy and bitey! And I didn't know they don't like to be hugged!" he lifted up his arm, showing a bunch of angry squirrels stuck to it.

"Guys! Look!" Kin pointed across the street where the holograms were putting up flyers everywhere.

"Our holograms!" Laney gasped. "They've escaped!"

"But how?" Jackie wondered aloud. "We had the garage door locked and everything!"

"Don't worry." Kon rolled up his sleeves. "I'll round em up."

The drummer ran across the street and faced the holograms.

"You can come home the easy way or the hard way! And after those squirrels were so mean, I'm begging for you to choose the hard way!"

"Hi there! Look at me! Aren't I pretty?" the Jackie hologram batted her eyelashes.

"When has the real Jackie ever batted her eyelashes like that? Seriously, is this how Kin sees you?"

"Are you ready to rock?" the Corey hologram taunted.

"Okay, that's it!" Kon swung his fist at the hologram Corey, but it just went through him. "Huh?"

It was at that moment Kon realized that he couldn't touch the holograms. Unfortunately, they could touch him.

"Uh-oh…"

The holograms grabbed Kon and started beating him up. The other band members, being the true friends they are, sat down on a bench and watched. Kin even ate some popcorn.

Once the holograms were done with him, they threw Kon toward the park bench.

"Dude, how did you get beaten up by holograms?" Laney asked. "They're light."

Corey stood up and lifted Kon by the arm.

"C'mon guys. Let's head back so we can come up with a plan before people notice us and make a scene."

The others nodded and followed Corey. A squirrel came up and bit Kon on the leg.

**HOLOGRAM TRANSITION!**

The media had already shown up at Jackie's house. Kelsey and Alyssa were there too, mourning over the loss of their favorite band.

"We've just received word that Jackie Matthews, the spunky and level-headed manager of Grojband, has recently gone missing after losing her band." Buster announced. "And people are making a scene because they've noticed the ghosts of Jackie and her band have risen from their graves and are haunting Tranquil Town as they promote their upcoming ghost gig in the park tonight."

Jackie and the gang were inside the garage. Luckily, nobody had seen them come in.

"Core, those holograms are gonna perform tonight without lyrics, and everyone's gonna remember us as a lousy band." Laney told the band leader.

"Yeah, and they're gonna remember me as a narcissistic airhead who calls herself pretty all the time." Jackie added. "Kin, can't you shut those guys down or something?"

Kin shook his head. "Sorry Jackie. No can do. I programmed the holograms to be just like us with our unstoppable desire to rock!"

At that point, Tracy came into the garage.

"Ugh! Didn't I sweep you losers out of here like an hour ago? You'd better be gone by the time I get back or it's broom time again!"

Laney rolled her eyes as the selfish teenager left the house. She walked right in front of the camera outside of the garage. Buster popped out of a trashcan and met up with her.

"Tracy Matthews, sister of Jackie Matthews, has just appeared! Let's see if we can get some tears." he held the microphone under Tracy's mouth. "Tracy? What would you like to say about the devastating loss of your disappeared ghost sister?"

Tracy had no idea what was going on.

"Disappeared? She's disforunately inside the garage right now."

"Inside your heart possibly. Everywhere else, she's a narcissistic airhead ghost who calls herself pretty all the time."

"What? She's never called herself pretty! And she's not a ghost nitwit! She's right here! I'll show you!"

Tracy led the anchorman over to the garage door and opened it up. However, she was surprised to see that Jackie and her friends were no longer there.

"Wait, what? She was here! I just saw her!"

"Good luck with your crumbling reality." Buster whispered.

Tracy let out a terrified scream and ran away. Buster turned back to the camera.

"And for those of us not having a mental breakdown, we'll see you tonight in the park!"

Kelsey and Alyssa waved to the camera.

"We love you ghost Grojband!"

Once the garage door was closed, Jackie and Grojband came out from behind the couch.

"See? Told ya we could all fit behind the sofa!" Corey told Laney.

"Great." Laney replied unenthusiastically. "But Holoband is still gonna play tonight. Without lyrics. And they're gonna stink!"

"We can't let that happen!" Corey decided. "I guess we'd better come clean and say we never disappeared."

Jackie brought Kelsey and Alyssa inside the garage so Corey could explain everything to them.

"So to sum up, it was a hoax." Corey finished. "The good thing is we're alive!"

"Yep!" Jackie nodded. "Doesn't that make you girls happy?"

But the girls didn't believe a word.

"You're not Grojband!" Alyssa accused. "You're a Grojband cover band!"

"Yeah, you're just copying them!" Kelsey added. "Look! They even made their manager dress up just like Jackie!"

"Too soon Grojband cover band. Too soon."

And so the two groupies left the garage.

"Well that was a fail." Corey noted. "Who knew people hated cover bands so much?"

**PEOPLE HATE COVER BANDS!**

Tracy and Macy were taking a walk downtown. Macy had her nose in her philosophy book.

"If my sister was gone, I'd be happy." Tracy said. "But I'm not happy. So, that means my sister does exist. You agree with me, right?"

"Our friendship contract says I have to agree with everything you say. So yes. But this book says maybe none of us really exist. That maybe we just think we exist."

"Which would mean, you don't exist."

"Well, the book says I might not but-"

"You don't exist!"

Macy then fell into a manhole but Tracy didn't notice this. When she learned she was gone, Tracy started looking around for her red-haired friend. When she couldn't find her, she gasped.

"I just philosiphized Macy away! So cool!" she giggled as she walked away.

Back at the garage, Corey was still trying to think of a plan. He tried pacing in circles but that didn't give him any ideas.

"Well, I've got nothing." he informed his friends. "What do you guys got?"

Kin spoke up. "Holoband is programmed just like us. To shut down after performing one song."

"Only we have guts and meat inside." Kon mentioned. "That's the difference."

Corey beamed. "That's it! They're empty inside! We just need to step inside the holograms, then play the song! Once it's over, Holoband will shut off revealing us! It's a comeback show!"

"Not bad Core!" Jackie responded.

"Yeah. Not bad. But what about lyrics?" Laney questioned.

The five looked over at the TV where Buster Newsworthy was giving another news report.

"While hoards of fans pack this park for tonight's ghost concert, Tracy Matthews has yet to accept the fact that her sister is actually…a ghost!"

Tracy hopped on the stage and searched the crowd.

"Jackie! Show yourself! Show yourself so I know you're real! Grr…" she spotted the holograms. "Ah-ha! I knew it!"

The long-haired teen ran backstage where the holograms of Jackie and Grojband were hanging out.

"Look at this!" Buster gestured toward backstage. "Tracy is about to reunite with the ghost of her sister! How brave."

"Everyone thinks you're a lame ghost!" Tracy faced the hologram of Jackie. "But I know you're a lame real! Now tell them I'm not crazy!"

"Hi there! Look at me! Aren't I pretty?"

"No! You're not pretty! I'm the pretty one! You're the annoying one! Do you understand?"

"Aren't I pretty?"

"That's it!" Tracy swung her fist at the hologram and just like Kon, her hand went right through it. "Ugh! Quit not being real and let me hit you!"

She kept trying to punch 'Jackie' in the arm but failed every time.

"Gasp! Jackie's not real?" Tracy jumped in front of the camera. "NONE OF THEM ARE REAL!"

The news report shut off after that.

"That's it!" Jackie got an idea. "I wonder what would happen if Tracy thought hunky Rick Salary didn't exist?"

"Jacks, if that happened, she'd diary up enough lyrics for a greatest hits album!" Kon exclaimed.

"Exactly! Kin?"

Kin nodded. "One non-existent Rick Salary coming up!"

**RICK DOESN'T REALLY EXIST!**

At the show, the group met up with Rick so they could turn him into a hologram. Laney used Kin's machine to scan him.

"Rick digs a pre-concert laser show." he said as he did several poses.

"Who doesn't?" Jackie agreed. "Oh, that reminds me. You should turn your cell phone off so it doesn't interrupt the concert."

"Rick thanks you for the reminder." the hunk pulled out his cell phone and held it to his ear. "Rick says Rick's not here right now."

Kon held a microphone over Rick and recorded him saying this. He gave Jackie a thumbs-up and she gave him one back. She then saw Tracy near the stage, looking absolutely terrified, and zipped up to her.

"Hey Tracy! Thanks for coming to my band's show!"

"Your band's show? Your band's show?" Tracy let out a psychotic laugh. "Your band doesn't even exist! And neither do you! Nothing exists!"

"You got me. I'm not real. No one is." she whispered in her older sister's ear. "Not even Rick Salary."

"Ha! Nice try! Rick is totes real! TOTES REAL!"

Jackie just shrugged. "Go ahead. Call him and see."

Tracy pulled out her phone and dialed Rick's number. She was automatically greeted with a voice mail message.

"Rick says Rick's not here right now."

Tracy was shocked. "Rick's…not here…right now?"

"Rick's not here right now." the voice mail message repeated.

Tracy turned around and saw a hologram version of Rick.

"But you're right there!" she persuaded. "Like, the realest!"

The love-struck teenager tried to jump into 'Rick's' arms but since he was a hologram, she fell down. Kin and Kon were projecting the hologram with Kin's machine. The two of them high-fived.

Tracy stood up. She was feeling many emotions. Terror, sorrow, but mostly anger.

"Rick Salary isn't here? And if Rick doesn't exist…nothing exists! NOTHING!"

Tracy blasted into the air surrounded by hologram Rick Salarys. Her diary and pen floated up to her and she wrote angry flames inside of it. All of the speakers blasted out fire. When Tracy finished, she returned to normal and Corey caught her diary. The others were already backstage waiting for him.

"I got the lyrics guys!" he said as he came in. "Let's rock!"

All of them jumped inside their own holograms and took the stage. All except Kin. He looked back at the Jackie hologram and giggled. He took out the remote control and pressed the button.

"Hi there! Look at me! Aren't I pretty?"

"Yes you are Jackie." he ran a finger across her holographic face. "Yes you are."

"Kin!" Corey called. "Hurry up!"

Kin quickly jumped inside his hologram and joined his friends on stage. They started playing a song.

_Do I even have a name_

_When nobody says it but me?_

_Is there any point to fame_

_When they look but they never see?_

_I'm back, I'm back_

_For the first time_

_I'm here, I'm here_

_And I'm all mine_

_Can you see I'm right here inside?_

_I'm back for the very first time_

_The person I want to be_

_The light that's inside of me_

_If this is a fantasy_

_I'll live it from A to Z_

_I'm back, I'm back_

_For the first time_

_I'm here, I'm here_

_And I'm all mine_

_Can you see I'm right here inside?_

_I'm back for the very first time_

_For the very first time_

_I'm back!_

As soon as the song finished, Holoband disappeared revealing the real Grojband. The crowd was going wild.

"We love you Grojband cover band!" Kelsey and Alyssa yelled from the audience.

That night, Jackie and the gang returned to the garage safe and sound.

"Wow, what a great day, huh guys?" Corey asked his friends.

Kin and Kon were eating from a bowl of hologram chips.

"I'll say! These Holo Molos taste so good and you never get full!" Kon threw a chip in his mouth.

"Hey Kin? I've been meaning to ask you something." Jackie said. "I know Holoband shut down, but what happened to Holo Jackie?"

"Oh, I shut her down manually." Kin explained. "I was going to keep her, but I got tired of hearing the same things over and over again. Plus now that I think about it, she wasn't anything like you at all. Holograms are nice and all, but today I've learned that nothing beats the real thing…" he stroked his finger on Jackie's cheek and sighed.

"Uh…Kin? You're kind of creeping me out. Think you could stop that?"

"Oh!" Kin blushed and took his finger away. "Sorry."

"I don't know why you thought this was a good day Core." Laney continued. "Everyone thinks we're a copycat band."

"What's wrong with copying yourself?" a spotlight shined on Corey. "Should we stop saying 'good morning' because we've already said it today? No! All you need is one great idea if you can use it again and again!"

Suddenly, another hologram of Corey entered the spotlight.

"And sometimes the idea is better the second time around!"

"I programmed in your little monologue this time." Kin said before eating a holographic chip.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Both Coreys shut the garage door.

* * *

**9 chapters until the new story...**

**Gonna try to get another episode chapter done tonight so I should have it ready sometime tomorrow. Until then, bye!**


	44. Whatever

**Hey guys! Sorry it took me a while to upload this. The truth is I had this chapter ready a week ago. I just wanted to give people more time to review the last one (Note: I still wait for reviews before uploading chapters, so the more reviews I get, the faster you'll get the next chapter. Just keep that in mind ;) ). Anyway, before we start this one, I want to address something that almost everyone was talking about when I posted Chapter 43. **

**Listen guys, the thing with the Jackie hologram was meant to be a joke. The whole reason she acts the way she does is because Kin programmed her that way. The reason he programmed her that way? Well, because Kin has always wanted to see Jackie being and acting adorable. When he created her hologram, he didn't realize he was portraying her the wrong way. He really just wanted her to ask if she was pretty all the time so he would be there to reassure her that indeed, she was. He got rid of her eventually because she wasn't at all like the real Jackie and he likes the real one better. **

**Okay, sorry. Just needed to throw that out there. Here is Chapter 44 which is based off of the episode "Who Are You", requested by AA.**

* * *

**Chapter 44**

**Whatever**

Laney, Kon, and Jackie all stood still in anticipation for Kin was about to unveil his newest invention to them. Green smoke and lasers covered the stage and once they cleared up, Kin was revealed wearing a new pair of tennis shoes. Kon gasped in excitement, Jackie looked down curiously, while Laney just stared in confusion.

"Explain em already!" Kon insisted. "I can't stand it anymore!"

"Oh these?" Kin showed off the shoes. "My shoeniversities?"

"Shoeniversities?" Kon rolled his eyes at the terrible name.

"I got the idea when I heard someone talk about walking a mile in another man's shoes!"

"That's so far! They must really stink!" Kon held Kin upside-down to get the shoes off of him. Then he held them up to his nose and breathed in the smelly fumes. "Smooth…"

"They teach you while you walk." Kin explained.

"That's as ridiculous as whatever Corey's about to burst in and say." Laney claimed.

And just like that, Corey came into the garage with another crazy plan that just might work.

"Guys! I booked us a gig at Bean Billy's new coffee house!"

"I don't know about coffee shops." Laney said. "They're full of hipsters."

"What's a hipster?" Jackie asked dumbfounded.

Laney snapped her fingers and the lights turned off. She showed the brunette a chart displaying the anatomy of a hipster.

"Dead rolling eyes, silly t-shirts, tight pants, and they never like anything." she rolled her eyes. "So lame."

Corey got a closer look at the chart.

"Hm…why does that harsh judging eye roll look so familiar?"

"You're wrong about one thing Laney." Kin replied. "Hipsters don't like anything unless it's obscure!"

"Like the barely known rock god Dark-Rimmed Glasseus?" Kon chimed in.

"Rock lore time!" the twins joined hands and started telling a story.

"Dark-Rimmed Glasseus was quiet, strange, and despite claims that he was artsy, he was just not good at all."

"But no one had ever heard of him. So for some unknown reason, ancient hipsters worshipped him. And he made them feel cool!"

"Hipsters only like music that no one has ever heard of."

"This is perfect!" Jackie interrupted the tall tale. "No one's ever heard of Grojband!"

"Except for Kelsey and Alyssa." Laney replied. "And Tracy. And Jack Matterson. And-"

"Well, besides them no one! Let's go!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

The friends arrived at Billy's Bean Barn. Billy was working up front.

"I don't know about these hipster kids Jackie." he said. "They don't like nothing! Not even s'mores!"

A girl with glasses was staring at a s'more on her plate.

"Ugh. That s'more is trying so hard to look tasty."

Billy went on. "And they've driven a dozen bands off stage! Just by rolling their eyes!"

A guitarist was playing a tune on the stage in the coffee house. One of the hipsters walked by and rolled his eyes. This made the guitarist cry and run out of the shop.

Jackie scoffed. "Grojband can handle a few eye rolls. Right guys?"

The band didn't answer.

"Don't be so sure Jackie!" Billy got up in the manager's face. "Once those hipster eyes roll at you, you'll feel worthless!"

"Oh c'mon! They just want to hear something they've never heard of! Like my band!"

Just then, the door to the coffee shop opened and Tracy and Macy stepped in.

"Why aren't these people automatically fawning over me?" Tracy complained. "I've been here for at least five seconds!"

"Uh, try re-flipping your hair Tracy?" Macy suggested.

Tracy flipped her hair dramatically and gave a peace sign.

"Too cute!"

"Lame." one of the hipsters said.

The teenager growled.

"Wait! I know! I'll send them a message on Bleater!" she started typing on her phone. "'Totes up in the bean barn'!"

She pressed 'send' but only one phone went off in the entire shop and that phone was Macy's.

"What?!" Tracy was astonished. "None of them follow me on Bleater?!"

"Uh, one of us does." Macy responded shyly.

"Check it out guys!" Jackie informed the band. "Tracy's here and already frazzled! Look at her. Trying so hard to fit in with the cool kids. We'll have lyrics for your song in no time!"

Billy got up on stage and spoke into the microphone.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt your blinking, but I'd like to introduce tonight's act! Grojband!"

Kon rolled onto the stage and caught Laney and Kin in his hands. Corey slid below him and did a cool pose. The hipsters stood still with blank faces.

"Wow! That's the most excited I've ever seen em!" Billy observed.

"I've never heard of these guys." a hipster with blonde hair told Tracy. "They must be awesome."

Tracy scowled. "They're so hilariously unawesome, it's not even funny."

"So you've heard of them?"

"Duh!"

"These guys are so overplayed." the hipster walked off.

Tracy's frown turned upside-down at these words.

Jackie took the mic.

"Hey everyone! I'm Jackie Matthews, manager of Grojband. Hope you're ready for some rockin' new tunes because my band is ready for-"

"Ugh." some of the hipsters grumbled and rolled their eyes.

Jackie was starting to feel uneasy. She looked over at another group of hipsters.

"Meh." a girl shrugged and rolled her eyes.

Corey and Laney clenched their teeth. Kin and Kon hugged each other in fear.

The blonde hipster Tracy had been talking to folded his arms, unimpressed. Jackie started thinking to herself.

_No, don't do it. Don't do it! Please!_

But it was too late for the blonde-haired hipster's eyes were already moving in the opposite direction.

After that, Jackie and Grojband were too scared to face the hipsters and ran out of the coffee shop.

"I feel so worthless…" Corey said.

"For the first time ever, I don't feel completely awesome…" Kon looked down sadly. Kin patted his back in sympathy.

"Hipsters." Laney shuddered. "I hate and fear them at the same time!"

Jackie didn't say anything at first. She just looked through the window of the coffee shop and glared at all of the kids inside of it.

"That's it! Nobody shoos you guys away from a gig!"

Saying this gave her an idea.

"Hm…shoes eh? Guys, I'll be right back!" the brown-haired girl ran away.

**HIPSTER CLOCK MUSTACHE WIPE!**

Jackie arrived at her garage and put on Kin's shoeniversities.

"If I remember correctly, these shoes teach you while you walk!" she told herself. "So walking backwards must make you forget! Of course! If those hipsters want obscure, they're gonna get it! Grojband will be the first band that's never even heard of itself!"

With that, Jackie started walking backwards which made the shoes glow a light blue color. After a few steps, she stopped.

"Wait, what was I talking about?" she thought for a minute and then shrugged. "Meh."

Back at the coffee shop, Tracy was still trying to fit in with the hipsters.

"My sister's so lame!" she said to one of them. "This one time she was all like 'This thing is cool!' Whatever! Am I right?"

The hipster looked over at Tracy and removed his earbuds.

"Sorry. Were you talking at me?"

Tracy smiled sheepishly, but deep down she was angered that she wasn't getting any attention.

Grojband, meanwhile, was setting up their gear on stage and waiting for Jackie to come back.

"Man, Jacks has been gone a really long time." Corey noted. "What could be keeping her?"

"Who knows? But she better hurry back." Laney answered. "We need her help if we're gonna play for these guys."

"Guys, I think those hipsters scared her." Kin worried. "She must be scarred for life after what they did to us! In fact, she might be so scared that she may never set foot in this store agai-"

The boy in glasses heard the door open and he turned around. Once he saw the figure at the door, his eyes filled with hearts.

"Whoa…"

Standing at the foot of the door was a girl with tight pants, a t-shirt, a pair of black-rimmed glasses, and brown hair tied up in a ponytail. Believe it or not, this girl was Jackie.

"She's beautiful…" Kin mumbled.

"Finally!" Laney groaned as Jackie met up with her band. "We need to go over our set list. What are we playing?"

"I don't know why you're asking me." Jackie shrugged. "I don't know how to manage a band."

"Well remember quick or we're gonna lose our gig!" Laney shouted, grabbing Jackie's shoulders.

"Meh. Who cares dude?"

Laney was shocked. Jackie had never called her a dude before. Kin came up to Jackie love-struck.

"Wow…uh, hey Jackie. You look amazing. I think those glasses suit you."

"Ugh! They're not glasses dorkboy. They're shades. I expected a nerd like you to be smart."

Kin frowned and tears formed in his eyes. He felt his heart breaking into a million pieces. He hugged Kon and started crying.

"Jacks! What was that all about?" Corey went.

"You totally hurt Kin's feelings!" Laney added.

Jackie crossed her arms. "Oh, boo-hoo-hoo. Two words losers. Who…cares?"

Saying this was enough to capture the hipsters' attention. The one Tracy was talking to even spat out his coffee all over her.

"She doesn't care about management? Or her band? I think I'm in love."

Sure enough, the other hipsters were impressed too and started clapping for Jackie.

"Wow!" Billy cried. "This crowd is on fire!"

"Meh." Jackie shrugged and walked out of the store.

"Okay, what happened to Jackie?" Laney asked.

Kin sniffled and wiped some tears away.

"She acted so cruel and heartless. Something I never expected her to be. There's only one thing that could have made her this way…the shoeniversities!"

The four ran back to the garage and found the shoes lying on the ground.

Kon was confused. "But if she used the shoeniversities, wouldn't she be like, super smart and know how to manage a band even better?"

"Not if she walked…backwards!" Kin panicked.

Kon picked up one of the shoes.

"She must have walked backwards a bazillion miles to build up this kind of stink!" he, Corey, and Laney covered their noses.

Kin started pacing back and forth.

"Hm…she doesn't know anything…so she probably doesn't care about anything either!"

"She's the perfect hipster!" Laney concluded.

Corey heard his phone go off and he took it out of his pocket.

"Guys!" he called after reading the new message. "Jackie just checked in at the zoo and bleated 'Bears. Meh.'"

"Quick!" Laney cried. "Let's go find her before she does something else annoyingly blasé!"

Meanwhile, Tracy was lying on her bed in her room, trying to figure out why the hipsters didn't like her.

"Maybe the hipsters don't like you because they think you're trying too hard." Macy theorized.

"So I have to work harder at not trying so hard." Tracy concluded. "Why does everything have to involve so much work? MACY! PACE HARDER!"

Macy started stomping her shoes against the floor.

At the zoo, a huge crowd of hipsters was lined up near the bear cage. Jackie somehow managed to get inside the cage so she could mock the bear.

"I don't know why that's so cool." she said.

The bear snarled at her and roared in her face.

"Meh." Jackie left.

The bear was surprised at her reaction. So he sat down and put on a pair of hipster glasses. Then Grojband arrived at the scene.

"Hey kid!" Corey said to a young hipster boy. "What's going on?"

"That bear was trying so hard to be a bear." the kid explained. "We get it. You roar."

"Meh." the bear went.

"Apathetic bear…bored crowd…" Laney listed on her fingers. "This reeks of hipster Jackie!"

She heard her phone receiving a message and read it aloud to her bandmates.

"Jackie says: 'Skydiving. Whatever.'"

Up in the sky, a man was trying skydiving for the first time in his life.

"Woohoo! I conquered my fear of heights!" he shouted.

Jackie came down next to him, not showing any emotional excitement.

"Meh."

This made the man feel completely worthless and he started crying.

Back on the ground, another man was filming a video of something truly incredible.

"Whoa! Double rainbow all the way!"

Jackie walked into the camera view.

"Meh."

"Urgh! She's right!" the man pointed at the sky. "You should have been a triple rainbow!"

Next Jackie headed for the gym where a buff guy was lifting weights.

"I…am…really…strong!"

"Meh."

The muscular man looked up.

"I never thought of it like that before."

The weight then crushed his arms and he screamed.

Grojband met up in a corn field where a giant UFO was sitting.

"Guys! I just got another bleat from Jackie!" Corey announced. "'Parasailing strapped to a bear onto a UFO. Lame.'"

The gang looked up in the sky and saw Jackie and the hipster bear tied together and flying on a parasail. The two of them landed safely on the UFO.

"Meh." they both said.

"This isn't good." Corey declared. "If we're gonna play our gig tonight at the bean barn, Jackie needs to snap out of it!"

"But how?" Laney wondered.

Kin gasped for he had an idea.

"She needs to walk forward in my shoeniversities!"

"That's it!" Kon yelled. "We'll never be eccentric shoe barons with a name like shoeniversities!"

"Fine. What name should we use?"

The band took their manager back to the gym and made her walk on the treadmill while wearing the shoeniversities.

"Um, excuse me Miss Author?" Kon interrupted. "They're called ed-shoe-cations. Isn't that right Kin?"

Kin just glared.

"It looks like she's walking a lot but going nowheres." said one of the gym patrons.

"Ugh!" Laney groaned. "Doesn't anyone care about anything anymore?"

"I know." Jackie agreed. "It's sad."

"It is?" Laney perked up. "The shoes must be working! They're teaching Jackie to care!"

"We've gotta speed up her recovery!" Corey reached for the speed dial on the treadmill and turned it up higher. Jackie started running even faster. So fast, that she started to glow.

"It might be too fast!" Kin warned.

"Yeah, and it might not be!" Kon turned the dial even more.

Jackie kept running faster and faster and faster until…

"She's gonna blow!" Corey cried.

**KA-BOOM!**

The explosion caused the treadmill and the shoes to break. The next thing the band knew, they were covered in bubble wrap.

"Well it worked." Corey muttered.

And he was right. Jackie was no longer dressed like a hipster and she actually cared again. However, running too fast in the shoeni-I mean, ed-shoe-cations made her care a little too much.

"Most accidents happen while walking." she explained. "It's a long walk to the gig. So I'll mail you there! With damage insurance! I just care so much about you guys! And my sister! She just wants to be liked!"

Jackie wrapped her arms around all four of the band members.

"Quick!" Laney gasped from lack of air. "Turn her back into a jerk!"

"Are you kidding?" Kin gained hearts in his eyes. "Let's keep her this way forever!"

Back at Jackie's house, Tracy had come up with a master plan to make friends with the hipsters.

"I totally see it and junk!" she announced to Macy. "It's the perfect way to pretend I don't care about being popular with the hipsters to make me popular with the hipsters!"

The taller girl snatched the shorter girl's glasses and put them on.

"It'll work for sure Tracy!" Macy nodded. "I can't wait to see it in action!"

**PRETENDING TO BE COOL IS COOL!**

The girls made it back to the coffee shop. Tracy was still wearing Macy's glasses.

"Remember!" Macy whispered to her friend. "You don't like anything. Stay focused!"

Tracy shrugged her shoulders. "Meh."

"I know, right?" a hipster replied.

Tracy smiled and gave Macy a thumbs-up.

Billy, meanwhile, had just noticed a big box sitting on stage.

"I don't remember ordering a package the size of a band…" he told himself.

"Let us out!" a voice yelled from the inside.

Billy used a crowbar to open the box and Grojband piled out.

"Where's Jackie?" Billy exclaimed. "She's supposed to go over your set list with you and you'll be going on any minute!"

As if on cue, Jackie stepped into the coffee shop with a special guest.

"Thanks for doing this Rick! Tracy's trying so hard to fit in here! But I know seeing you would really put a smile on her face!"

"Rick? Here?!" Tracy's lips started turning upward. "Can't smile…the hipsters might see me…"

She grunted and started to sweat.

"Tracy Matthews?" Rick walked up to his fangirl and put a hand on her shoulder. "If these hipsters don't like you for who you are, just know that Rick Salary does."

Tracy felt her heart beating rapidly.

"O…M…G!"

The teenager shot up into the air surrounded by hearts. She began to write hearts across the pages of her diary. This caused hearts to come out of the hipsters' coffee cups. Tracy held out her pen, which had hearts coming out of the tip of it, and floated down into Rick's arms.

"Sigh…"

Corey held out his hand and caught the diary.

"Keeping my band safe, making Tracy smile, and getting a killer song!" Jackie squealed. "I'd say this is our best gig yet! Truly a wonderful day!"

Laney groaned again and took the mic.

"One, two, three, four!"

The band started playing.

_If you're real_

_Let's see those black-rimmed hipster shades (shades, shades, shades, shades)_

_Then we all can dance_

_In our grandpa's vintage pants (whatever)_

_Don't act like nothing's cool (that posture)_

_Who you trying to fool? (green energy)_

_Be what you're dying to be_

_Just don't worry about who's gonna see_

_Just be wicked real like me_

_Our band is lame now_

_That we wrote a song_

The hipsters applauded loudly and actually cheered for them.

Later, after the group had gone home, Kin fixed the ed-shoe-cations and put them on Jackie.

"Seriously? You're still calling them that?" Kin complained. "Okay Jackie. I hate to do this, especially since I'm really found of your caring side, but the other guys want you to go back to normal. So start walking backwards. Slowly. I put those things mostly back together with gum."

Jackie giggled and pinched Kin's cheek.

"Aw Kin, you say the cutest things sometimes."

Kin blushed and hearts surrounded him.

"At least we can fix this easily." Corey pointed out.

"Yeah, I've had enough of gentle Jackie." Laney sighed with relief.

"This just in!" Destiny Providence said on the TV.

"Citizens everywhere have become eye-rolling, shrugging hipsters!" Buster informed the public. "Who will make this town care again?"

Corey popped up between the two of them.

"I'll tell you who! All of us!" a spotlight shined on him. "Because not caring is not living. Life is like a skydiving bear. It's big, fast, hairy, and you should just enjoy the ride before it bites your arms off. If we all just learn to live a little and care a lot, we might be able to fix this town! What do you say Tranquil Town?"

Kin, Kon, and Laney put on hipster shades and they all said:

"Meh."

Corey shrugged. "Well, I tried. Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**8 chapters until the new story...**

**Remember guys, if you want the next chapter uploaded sooner, I will need reviews for this one first. The more, the merrier! Also, I have finished writing up chapters for all of the episodes I have received, which means I need more requests from you guys. However, just a friendly reminder that once ten episodes are done, the special multi-part story will go immediately after them. So if you want an episode put in before that, you will need to be fast because it's first come, first serve! There are currently five slots available so I will accept the first five EPISODE requests that I get (as long as they aren't the ones that need to be saved for the end). If you put up an episode request after I have already received five, then you will have to wait for the multi-part story to finish before I add it in. **

**All righty then! See you guys (hopefully) tomorrow! Remember to write reviews!**


	45. Pirated Material

**Thanks for the reviews guys! They really help me out a lot. As promised, here is the next chapter which is based off of "On the Air and Out to Sea", another request from AA. I was planning on basing this chapter off of "Rockersize" since I received the request after "Who Are You" but as AA pointed out, the pirates made a cameo in Rockersize and because of this, it would be more appropriate to have this episode come first. So sorry to those of you who were waiting to see Rockersize remade. That will be the next chapter, I promise. For now, please enjoy this one. **

* * *

**Chapter 45**

**Pirated Material**

Kin and Kon sat in front of the computer screen as they waited patiently for their favorite songs to download.

"6,000 songs of summer is set to download and will be done in…" Kin checked the download time. "Eleven minutes."

"Eleven minutes?!" Kon whined. "What are we, cavemen?"

"Look at it this way. The cavemen probably had longer download times."

Jackie giggled. "Kin, I'm pretty sure cavemen didn't own any computers. Let alone downloaded music."

Kin turned red. "Oh. Yeah. I knew that. I was just…making a joke! Heh, heh! So funny right?"

"I hope one day we won't even have to download music." Kon wished. "Music would just float through the air and we could catch it with a magic box!"

"Would that box look like this?" Kin revealed a strange looking device with a megaphone on top of it.

Kon gasped. "Wow…"

"What is it Kin?" Jackie asked.

"I call it a magic air music wave decoder!"

Laney picked up the machine.

"Isn't that how a radio works?"

Corey slid down the railing to the door in the garage. "The problem with radio is you gotta listen to whatever they put in the sky. You don't have any control over it."

"Not so. Let's educate!" Kin joined hands with Kon. "Behold Frecuencius! Master of the Ether!"

"Frecuencius had totally grown tired of the Rocklympus radio station and their super lame music."

"He swiped the antenna atop Mount Rocklympus and beamed his own voice and music into the heavens. It was called a pirate radio station because he hijacked the airwaves from the gods!"

"Until the gods found out and cast wicked bolts of lightning down upon him!"

"Cool!" Jackie said. "I wish we could put you guys's music on the radio."

"That's it!" Corey exclaimed. "We're gonna hijack the airwaves and fill the sky with our music! Gang? Grojband's starting its very own pirate radio station!"

**YO HO HO TRANSITION!**

Kin and Kon went outside to set up the satellite for their radio station. Kin stood on Kon's shoulders so he could reach while Kon stood on a ladder that Laney was holding.

"Almost done." Kin informed his brother. "Don't let go."

"Go on let go?" Kon repeated.

"No! Don't let go!"

"Phew! We almost had one of those misunderstandings where you say 'don't' and then I do it. But I won't let go."

"What's that?" Laney called from below. "Let go? Okay."

When the red-head let go of the ladder, the twins came crashing down. The crash could be heard from Tracy's bedroom where Tracy currently was. She didn't hear it however, because she was too busy complaining to Macy.

"I can't believe that stupid dentist gave me a filling! My teeth are totally perfect and whatnot!"

"At least you don't have to wear braces Tracy." Macy reminded her BFF.

"I know, right? I mean, what kind of cute and popular teenaged girl has to wear braces all the time?"

Just then, Tracy heard her phone receive a Bleat and she picked it up. She gasped excitedly when she read what was on the screen.

"Macy! Rick Salary bleated that he's out at sea on his new jet ski! I'm gonna prep a super romantic floating picnic for us! When sea salty Rick sees me, he'll be all like-"

Suddenly, a voice came out of Tracy's mouth and it wasn't hers.

"Corey Riffin here! GrojFM is on the air!"

Tracy covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"Wait a second…I know that voice!" Tracy got angry and headed for the garage where Corey was talking into a microphone.

"You're rocking out with the Riff Man! Large and in charge!"

"Keep your voice in your own mouth!" Tracy commanded before making a high-pitched microphone sound.

"Wow! The filling in Tracy's tooth must be picking up our signal!" Kin stated.

Jackie took the microphone from Corey.

"You're on the air Tracy! We're running a pirate radio station and you're our first listener!"

The older sister grabbed the younger sister by the lips.

"I'm totally having a picnic at sea with Rick Salary! And when I take his hunky face to smooch city, your voice or any of your dorky friends' voices are not coming out of my mouth! GOT IT?!"

Kon grabbed the microphone next.

"It's 9:02! Time for the weather!"

Tracy got into her car with a scowl on her face, for she could still hear the band's broadcast. Macy got into the backseat carrying picnic supplies.

"Looks like a crazy girl tornado is blowing through town!" Kin added.

"And keep an eye out for some teenage rage on the road!"

Jackie giggled.

Tracy moved her car out of the garage and put it in reverse.

"Like, oops or whatever!" she slammed on the gas pedal and rammed into the satellite. "There!"

Tracy drove off, thinking she had destroyed Grojband's satellite. But instead, it malfunctioned and started sending its signal somewhere else. Specifically to a pirate ship where a pirate captain who wore his underwear over his clothing was listening to the pirate radio station with his crew.

"Yar, har, har!" the pirate captain laughed. "Dancing to pirate shanties be fun! You two can shiver your timbers with the best of em!"

But then the pirate shanty was interrupted by the show on GrojFM.

"Now it's time for 'Let's Bug the Mayor'!" Kin announced. "Knock, knock!"

"What do you mean 'knock, knock'?" Mayor Swellow answered. "This here's a phone call!"

"Quick! Use a sound effect!"

The radio made various sounds. The captain peered inside of it.

"By the devil in the deep blue sea, what shenanigans these be?"

"Our sea shanties are gone!" the only pirate without a beard cried.

"They've stolen our music!" said the one with barnacles on his face.

The captain pulled out a book. "Well, the pirate manual says there's only one thing we can do…"

Back at Jackie's house, Kin was telling a story to the radio's listeners.

"So, it turned out not to be an alien implanted tracking device. I just had a jelly bean in my belly button!"

Kon nodded interestedly.

"So Core?" Laney asked. "Wouldn't it be cool to own the airwaves with our music instead of our belly button stories?"

"Yeah, and wouldn't it also be cool to get some lyrics for your music?" Jackie continued.

"It's not a belly button story Lanes. It's a jelly bean story." Corey corrected. "But you're both right. Let's find Tracy's aqua picnic and score some lyrics. But first, we'll need a boat."

"Where are we gonna find a boat Core?" Jackie inquired.

That's when the pirates burst through the roof, riding on an anchor. All of them pointed their swords at the kids, who screamed in terror.

"Have at them ye salty dogs!" the captain ordered.

The other two pirates surrounded Jackie and Grojband and captured them.

**CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!**

The pirates took the five back to their ship and tied them to the ship's pillar.

"Welcome aboard terrified prisoners!" the captain greeted. "I be Captain Undergarments! And this be me crew Sheared Beard, Barnacle Jim, and newly appointed first-mate, Rick Salary!"

Jackie took notice of the popular boy.

"Rick? How did you get here?"

Rick smiled. "Rick Salary was enjoying his new jet ski when he was full on pirated."

Captain Undergarments went on.

"We were listening to our pirate shanties about the sea, treasure, and drowning until you knocked em out with your pointless jelly bean tales!"

"Pointless?!" Kin struggled against the ropes. "Let me at im!"

"Actually Kin. He's not wrong. That story you told wasn't that informative." Jackie claimed.

Kin looked down sadly. "Oh."

"Now, I'm sorry to do this to ya." the captain said. "But the book says ruining a shanty gets ya…the plank!"

Kon scoffed. "Nobody's planking anymore."

"Wait Cap'n!" Sheared Beard spoke up. "We can't make all of em walk the plank! One of em is a girl!"

"One of them?!" Laney yelled.

"Hm, ye be right. Let's see what the pirate manual says." the captain flipped to a page in his book. "Ah! Here we go! It says here if a woman is found guilty of stealing pirate shanties or is involved in stealing em, she does not have to walk the plank."

"Really?" Jackie sighed. "That's a relief!"

"Instead, she must sacrifice her freedom and become…our serving wench!"

"Wait, what?!"

The three pirates pulled Jackie out of the ropes and dressed her up in a smelly, raggedy, gown.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

Captain Undergarments handed her a mop.

"Get to work lassie! The deck ain't gonna swab itself you know!" he laughed along with Sheared Beard and Barnacle Jim.

Jackie knew she had to obey the captain because her friends were all tied up and there was no way she could face him alone. So she did what she was told and started swabbing the deck.

Grojband watched the scene in horror.

"Now where was I?" Undergarments scratched his head. "Oh! Right! Boys, let's take these hooligans…to the plank!"

Meanwhile, on a float somewhere out in the ocean, Macy had just finished preparing the food for Tracy's picnic.

"There!" she said. "Everything's ready for your picnic with Rick, Tracy!"

Tracy was lying in a lawn chair.

"More pasta!" she demanded. "Rick may want squiggle things instead of tubey things."

Macy sighed and got back to work.

Grojband was still tied up together, but this time they were on the edge of the ship's plank. Captain Undergarments had his sword pointed at them while Sheared Beard and Barnacle Jim continued laughing at Jackie. She looked over at her band and waved sadly.

"Poor Jackie. She doesn't deserve to be treated like a lowly servant." Kin's eyes filled with tears. "Oh well. At least she gets to live out the rest of her life while we sink to the bottom of the ocean."

"Wait Captain!" Corey interrupted. "You've got it all wrong! We're pirates too!"

"Yeah!" Kin agreed. "We took what we wanted!"

"And didn't care what happened!" Kon added.

"We totally broke the rules!" Laney nodded.

Captain Undergarments looked through the manual.

"Take what they want…don't care…break the rules…well, the pirate manual says you're pirates. But you took our shanties! That's a plankable offense!"

"We can play sea shanties on our radio station!" Corey claimed. "Think about it. Our pirate radio station on your pirate ship! We could rule the airwaves and the sea waves! We even have our own outfits!"

The four somehow got their own pirate costumes.

"Hmm…" the captain thought about it. "Welcome aboard kids!"

Sheared Beard and Barnacle Jim untied the band and they all cheered. All of them except Laney.

"Core!" she exclaimed. "We don't have lyrics!"

"Say it a little louder Lanes." Corey remarked. "I don't think the plank heard you."

"Good point."

"I'm sure their pirate hijinks will inspire us to whip up a shanty!"

"But what about Jackie?" Laney pointed to the brunette who was still mopping and looking miserable.

"No problem! I'm sure these guys will let her go if we ask." Corey waved his arm in the air to get Undergarments's attention. "Hey Captain? Listen, since we're members of the crew now, we were just wondering if maybe you could set Jackie free?"

Captain Undergarments looked back at Jackie who was smiling and nodding.

"Does the lass play an instrument?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Arr! Then a wench she stays!"

Jackie knew she would be able to take down the pirates now that her band was free, so she dropped the mop and faced the bossy buccaneer.

"No way! I'm nobody's maid! I don't have to listen to a smelly old captain who wears his underwear over his pants!"

Undergarments was furious at first but then he calmed down and smiled.

"Listen dearie, would you say those four kids over there are your crew?"

"Well, I prefer to think of them as my band, but sure. Why?"

"Well, it would be a real shame if they somehow found themselves drowning out at sea, wouldn't it?"

Grojband gasped.

"You don't mean-" Jackie shuddered.

"Indeed I do."

Jackie didn't want her friends to be hurt so she sighed and said:

"Are there any more orders you have for me Captain?"

"Take yer mop to Barnacle Jim's room. It hasn't been cleaned in ten years. Unless of course ya want to watch yer friends walk the plank."

Jackie looked over at Barnacle Jim while he was scratching the barnacles on his face. She put a hand over her mouth to keep from throwing up and left.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Kin argued. "She doesn't have to clean anything if she doesn't want to!"

Captain Undergarments pointed a sword under Kin's chin.

"What did ye say?"

Kin gulped. "Oh. Nothing."

"That's what I thought. Now put us on the air ye scurvy dogs!"

Kon tossed a microphone to Corey and turned on Kin's radio invention.

"You're on!" he gave his leader a thumbs-up.

"Hey all you people in radio land and the greater radio land area! This is the Riff Man here with pirate captain, Undergarments!" Corey handed the mic over to the captain.

"Oh, uh, well hello! It's a nice day. We just doubled the size of our crew and got our very own serving wench! Um…let the plundering of Tranquil Town begin!"

"Great news Cap'n! Wait, what?!"

"First mate Salary! Set sail!" Undergarments ordered.

Rick let go of a rope he was holding, which released the sail and the boat took off.

The pirates' first stop was Treble Cliff's music store. Just like Jackie's house, they came in through the roof, holding on to their ship's anchor.

"Can I help you?" Cliff asked.

"No, we'll help ourselves thanks!" Undergarments laughed and he, Sheared Beard, and Barnacle Jim proceeded to take all of the store's instruments. When they were done, they got back on the anchor, which took them back to their ship.

"Items at the front are on clearance!" Treble Cliff called after them.

Laney gave Corey a glare and snatched the microphone from him.

"News flash. Pirates steal stuff."

Corey shrugged. "I'm sure it's just this one time."

But it wasn't. Next the pirates went to the zoo and captured some of the animals. They pointed their swords at a terrified bear and led it onto the ship.

"Core!" Laney panicked. "They swiped a bear!"

"I bet they'll calm down soon. Even pirates need a lunch break!"

This time, Corey was right as the pirates headed for Salad Billy's and started stealing from the salad bar.

"See?" Corey said to Laney. "Lunch break!"

"Yarr! Croutons lads!" Captain Undergarments commanded. "Stuff the hold with croutons!"

Then Sheared Beard, ironically, sneezed all over the sneeze guard.

"Eww! Sheared Beard!" the captain scolded. "That's a plankable offense!"

Laney looked at Corey and he sighed.

"Okay, maybe we should say something."

When the crew made it back on the ship, the pirates started enjoying themselves. Grojband stood back, not sure how to tell them about their rude habits. Then they saw Jackie coming out of Barnacle Jim's room covered in muck.

"Whoa! Jacks! What happened to you?" Laney worried.

"I just finished cleaning one of the crew member's bedrooms. It was awful. There were spiders in every corner, some gross liquid kept falling from the ceiling, and I'm pretty sure there was a dead fish in the bed."

"You poor thing." Kin hugged her, causing him to get covered in slop. "You know, you shouldn't let those guys push you around like that. Why don't you just quit?"

"Don't you remember? If I disobey the captain's orders then you guys will have to walk the plank. I figure it's better to suffer through servitude than witness my best friends drowning in the ocean."

Corey frowned sympathetically. "Don't worry Jacks. We'll figure out a way to-"

"Ahem!"

The front man turned around and saw Captain Undergarments staring him down.

"Don't be talking to the wench! She has lots more chores to do! Otherwise, I'll be happy to escort you all to…the plank!"

"Sorry guys." Jackie picked up her mop and walked to the other side of the ship.

Kin's eyes filled with tears from seeing his true love so miserable.

"Now listen up! All of ye!" Undergarments demanded. "It's come to our attention that ye haven't been pulling your weight around here! You'd better have a rousing shanty to make up for your lack of plundering!"

Corey looked nervous. "We don't have a shanty Captain sir…"

"I'm sorry to hear that. You're breaking a shanty promise and disobeying orders. You know what that be don't ya?"

"A plankable offense?" Kin guessed.

"That's right. First mate Rick Salary? Take these lads…TO THE PLANK!"

The captain waited for a few seconds but Rick never came.

"Where me first mate Rick?"

As it turns out, Rick was fast asleep in the ship's hammock. The next thing he knew, he was walking the plank with Grojband.

"Rick Salary didn't know napping was a plankable offense!" the hunk tried to defend himself.

"Hey Corey?" Kon said. "Does the authentic pirate experience of walking the plank inspire you at all?"

"No." Corey shook his head. "But Tracy's out in these waters somewhere! She'd come running if she knew Rick was in trouble! And bring lyrics with her!"

"We can broadcast right to her mouth if we can get to that mic!" Kin pointed toward the crow's nest where a mic was hanging off of the edge. Jackie was up there too, scrubbing the pillar.

"Any last requests?" Undergarments threatened.

"Grojband doesn't do requests!" Corey took out his guitar. "Kin! Get the mic! I'll hold em off!"

"If ye insist!" the captain took out his sword. "But I'm warning ya. I be real good."

The two of them started having an epic sword fight. Kon picked up Kin, stretched him out, and threw him towards the crow's nest. His paper hat caught onto the wood. Jackie looked down below her and saw her keyboardist hanging on for dear life.

"Kin! What are you doing here?" she pulled him up. "You're gonna get me in trouble!"

"Don't worry Jackie. We're gonna get you outta here. We're bringing Tracy to the ship so we can get lyrics from her and then we'll have our very own pirate shanty that'll set all of us free!" Kin hugged Jackie again but she pushed him off.

"Not the best time to hug me Kin. I'm a mess."

"I don't care. I don't mind getting a little dirty." he wrapped his arms around Jackie's hips and squeezed them tight. "I still like hugging you even if you're all gross and slimy."

Jackie smiled as Kin let go. "You really mean that?"

"Yeah…sure…"

The two stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Then Kin closed his eyes, puckered his lips, and leaned in to kiss Jackie.

"What are you doing?" Jackie interrupted.

Kin opened his eyes and blushed.

"Oh. Nothing. Hey, could you hand me that mic?"

Jackie did so.

"Thanks. Uh…bye." Kin grabbed the microphone and used its cord to swing back down to the plank. He smacked into Kon and got stuck in him. Rick took the mic from Kin.

Tracy, meanwhile, was still waiting impatiently for Rick's arrival to the picnic.

"Ugh! Waiting so puts the 'un' in fun! Where could Rick be?"

Then the filling in her tooth started sending her an SOS.

"Help. Rick Salary is in total pirate danger."

Tracy scanned the sea until she spotted the pirate ship with Rick on it.

"That way! Macy! Frantic paddling! NOW!"

Macy jumped into the water and started pushing the raft toward the ship.

Corey and Captain Undergarments continued to battle.

"Say, you're not bad." Undergarments commented. "But I forgot to tell ye something."

He pushed Corey down.

"I be right-handed!" he tossed his sword into his right hand and chuckled.

Using his good hand, Captain Undergarments was able to fend off Corey's attacks. Grojband and Rick Salary gasped.

"Yeah? Well I forgot to tell ye something! I be…" Corey used his foot to pick up his guitar. "Left-footed!"

They were about to continue the sword fight until they heard a loud scream.

"Yes!" Corey whispered.

Tracy started crawling her way onto the ship.

"WHERE'S MY DREAMBOAT?!" she yelled.

Corey thought fast and pushed Rick off of the plank.

"Sorry Rick!"

Rick shrugged in mid-air. "Rick assumes you have your reasons." he then dove into the ocean.

"Rick! No!" Tracy was very upset. "How am I supposed to have a picnic without Rick?!"

The teen turned red with anger and shot up into the air surrounded by a pirate hat, a treasure map, and a picnic basket. She summoned her diary and pen and started writing. This made lightning strike the crow's nest Jackie was in. Luckily, she managed to jump out just in time. When Tracy finished, she turned back to normal and landed next to Macy. Corey caught Tracy's diary.

"It's shantying time!" he declared and the band started playing.

_The death below_

_The sky above_

_Everything I know and love_

_My heart is here among the blue _

_And the sail is full and wind is true_

_Rolling waves and white caps_

_Victories and mishaps_

_Steer away from land chaps_

_My heart is in the sea_

Tracy was still worried for Rick so she ran over to the side of the ship where he fell off. When she looked below her, she was shocked to see Rick surrounded by mermaids feeding him grapes. She was so angry, she stormed off the ship and got back into her own raft. Macy followed her and started pushing the raft again. Unfortunately for Tracy, the filling in her tooth played Grojband's song all the way home.

_Ohhh _

_My heart is in the sea_

_My heart is in the sea_

_The screaming gulls, the wooden hulls_

_There's not on land for me_

_My heart is in the sea_

_My heart is in the sea_

_When I slip into my watery grave_

_Deep beneath the wave_

_Then I'll be forever happy_

_For my heart is in_

_My heart is in_

_My heart is in the sea_

_Arr!_

The pirates were very pleased with Grojband's shanty. So pleased that they decided to set all of them free (including Jackie) and take them home. Captain Undergarments was holding on to his ship's anchor as he said his goodbyes.

"Sure you don't wanna stay on as the onboard band?" Undergarments persuaded. "You'll get your fair share of the booty of course! And we promise not to make serving wenches out of anyone!" he winked at Jackie who winked back.

"Sorry, but we've never been in it for the booty." Corey told the captain.

"Arr! Suit yourselves! Heave away ya swabs!" he called to his crew.

Sheared Beard and Barnacle Jim lifted up the anchor and the three pirates left in their ship.

"Man, it sure is nice to be free and back in clean clothes." Jackie noted. "I can definitely say I don't ever wanna live on a pirate ship again!"

A spotlight shined on Corey.

"The pirate life dished up some fun for a while. Sure it's fun to force people to listen to you. And take all their stuff! But the waves can't be ruled. And before long, the winds of change will blow you away. And that's when all you've got is the song in your heart. And your mates. And they'll never tune you out!"

When Corey finished his monologue, he looked over at his friends, who hadn't been listening the whole time.

"Did you say something Corey?" Jackie asked.

"Thanks for sailing with us everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

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**7 chapters until the new story...**

**There are now four episode slots available for future updates. Please submit your episode ideas quickly if you want to see them before the multi-part story. Also, since "On the Air and Out to Sea" has been done, "The Pirate's Lounge For Me" can now be added in. See you guys again soon (remember to review)!**


	46. Pump Up The Gym

**As I promised you guys yesterday, this next chapter is based off of "Rockersize" which was suggested to me by StarHeart Specials. Hope you enjoy!**

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**Chapter 46**

**Pump Up the Gym**

"Buster Newsworthy live at the new gym barn!" the anchorman reported. "Where bulging muscleheads have something in their eyes…tears!"

Sure enough, Buster was right because standing behind him were three gym patrons crying their eyes out.

"Gym owner gym Billy? Why are these vainy monsters not screaming and moving metal plates up and down?"

Billy shrugged. "Dunno. I'm stumped. And I'm gettin' stumper! This place may have to close."

Corey, Laney, and Jackie were watching the news report from their garage.

"Aw, Billy's only had that gym for a week!" Jackie sympathized. "That is something to cry about."

"It's obvious why they're crying." Corey stated. "It's that super lame gym music!"

"Just two more!" one of the bodybuilders wailed to another one who was lifting a barbel.

The other one sobbed. "What's the point?"

"So, how are we going to fix this Core?" Laney asked.

"Well Lanes, iron is a metal. And metals are found in rocks. And rock is what we do! So we're gonna rock the gym barn and fuel the next workout craze!"

Kin and Kon were watching the TV and working out with the gym patrons.

"Great plan Corey…" Kon was out of breath.

"I'd be so jacked right now if it weren't for that music…" Kin added.

Tracy, meanwhile, was already at the gym with Macy and Rick Salary. Rick was trying to help them become more flexible. He started pushing down on Tracy's back.

"Ow!" Tracy yelped. She looked over at Macy who was bending like a pro. "Macy! Quit bending better than me!"

"I'm doing yoga!" Macy explained. "It's the ancient Indian discipline of-"

Tracy just growled at her friend, hinting at her to knock it off. Then she looked over at Rick and smiled sweetly.

"I didn't think working out was for us cool kids Rick. Until I learned that you were a personal trainer!"

"Rick's got you on a one ab per week program. For six weeks." the popular boy lifted his shirt and showed off his abs.

"What ab-er you say!" Tracy joked.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Jackie and the band arrived at the gym. They were all surprised to see how few people were there.

"Wow. Not quite the turnout I was expecting." Jackie said.

"Yeah, this place is dead Gym Billy!" Corey agreed.

Billy nodded. "Yep. It's been dying since I bought it. What gives?"

"Corey thinks it's your music." Jackie clarified.

"Exactly! It's bringing folks down instead of pumping them up!"

"Well what can I do about it?" Billy asked. "It's all I got on my non-brand name personal music player."

"That's where my band comes in Billy!" Jackie exclaimed. "Their music is sure to bring in more exercise fanatics!"

Corey nodded. "We'll play here every day! Starting now!"

Tracy overheard Corey say this and his voice echoed in her head. This made her very angry.

"Now…now…now…now…now…now…"

"Core?" Jackie interrupted. "Why do you keep repeating the same word over and over?"

"It makes it sound cool and ominous."

Tracy grabbed Macy by her hair.

"There's no way I'm gonna let Garbojband play their lame music here! It'll totally distract me from my Rick training! Macy? Warm up for me while I'm gone!"

Macy nodded and squeezed herself into a ball.

"Make sure to sweat!" Tracy called as she walked over to Billy. "If I were you, I so wouldn't let these losers pump up your patrons. Why don't you just throw them in there?" she pointed to a door near the back of the gym.

Billy thought about it. "You mean try their music out on the rockercise class first, so I don't risk scaring away my last three ape-like beef monsters?"

"Whatever. As long as you lock them in there."

"Rockercise? That's right in our wheelhouse! C'mon guys!" Corey zipped up to the door and opened it.

"Wait up Core!" Jackie caught up.

When he looked inside, Corey was confused by what he saw. In the room were three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs.

"Blair, Barbara, and Bethany are the three hardest to please grannies in town." Billy told Jackie. "If your band can build up these bitties, I'll give them the chance to rock every day and save my gym!"

"Sounds like a deal to me!" Jackie shook hands with Billy.

"Good luck Jackie! I'm counting on you!"

When Billy left the room, Tracy gave Jackie and Grojband a glare.

"Don't get your hopes up dorks! You'll never be able to rock these grannies into shape! No matter how many 'good lucks' people give you!" she slammed the door shut.

"Ignore her guys." Jackie persuaded. "I have faith that you can pump these grandmas up with one of your rockin' songs."

Kin looked up at Jackie, surrounded by hearts.

"Oh we'll pump them up Jackie. Especially since I've started working out myself!" he lifted up his shirt. "Check out these sweet abs! What do you think?"

"Uh…"

"Wow!" Kon remarked. "A complete lack of muscles! It goes perfectly with your complete lack of nipples!"

Kin shrieked and pulled down his shirt. He blushed deep red and chuckled nervously.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Jackie and Grojband proceeded to explain the whole situation to the three old ladies.

"So in short, my band is gonna help get you gals in shape!" Jackie finished. "So, before we begin, does anyone have any questions?"

"Yes." Bethany raised her hand. "Is this gym closing or not?"

"Well, that's kind of why we're doing this ma'am. To keep the gym from closing."

"They'd better not close it!" Bethany warned. "Because we paid for fifty classes, you tadpole!"

"Oh Bethany do be nice." Barbara told her. "I'm sure they'll give us our money back. Don't you agree Blair?"

"I can't hear anything!" Blair shouted.

"Okay that's it!" Corey announced. "There's no way we're spending fifty weeks in here!"

"Core, we have to." Jackie reminded him. "If we don't, Billy will never let you play your music here."

"No sweat Jacks! We'll rock these grannies faster if we press fifty weeks of music into five seconds!"

"How? By having a thousand hands?" Laney answered sarcastically.

Kin and Kon had their faces pressed against a vending machine.

"Wow! Jack Attack Energy Bars!" Kon gasped.

"Wait, what?" Jackie went.

"I heard these things got taken off the market because this one guy ate one and just turned into pure light!" Kin cried. "These must be the last four left!"

Kin put a few quarters into the machine and bought the last of the energy bars. He gave one to each of his bandmates. Corey opened his up revealing a flashing neon green snack.

"I don't know about this guys." Jackie was uneasy. "Anything that's green and flashing can't be good for you."

"C'mon Jacks! They'll help us shape up these grannies faster!" Corey claimed. "Let's see if these things really unleash the infinite beast!"

With that, they all took a bite out of their bars. Then after a few seconds, they all shot up into the air with a blast of green smoke.

"SPEED METAL TIME!" they screamed.

"Whoa, good thing I didn't eat one." Jackie told herself.

With a huge burst of energy, the band started playing their instruments faster and louder. The three grandmas rocked in their rocking chairs rapidly. Jackie ducked into a corner and covered her ears.

**KA-BOOM!**

Once the song finished, the windows broke and both the speakers burst. Jackie stood up after the explosion and coughed as the smoke cleared. She saw that her friends were completely frazzled.

"Are you guys okay?"

"What a rush!" Corey cheered. "With no side effects!"

"Not for us anyway." Laney pointed over at the three little old ladies, who weren't so little anymore. Now they were giant and muscular.

"Oh dear!" Bethany poked at her arm. "My sleeves!"

"Look what you tadpoles did!" Barbara cried.

Blair clapped her hands excitedly. "I can hear everything!"

The trio used their huge muscles to break their way out of the gym.

"Girls? I'm tired of things not being like they should around here!" Barbara complained.

"Wouldn't it be nice to just force the town to be proper?" Bethany suggested. "With force?!"

"Heck yeah!" Blair agreed and they all ran off screaming.

Billy came back into the room and when he saw the holes in the wall, he was speechless.

"We really pumped up those grannies huh Gym Billy?" Corey nudged the businessman's shoulder. "When do we start?"

"My walls!" Billy went numb and then he fainted.

"Core! We just turned three granny monsters loose!" Laney freaked out. "On the city!"

"Yeah. This wouldn't have happened if we had just waited for fifty weeks!" Jackie scolded.

"So they hug a few buildings before nap time. Chill out girls."

Kon spotted a few televisions above the treadmills. "Oh boy! A TV!" he turned them all on with a remote.

"This just in!" Destiny Providence informed the audience. "Three hugely muscled, grumpy grannies have compressed fifty weeks of taking over Tranquil Town into five seconds!"

"The hulking, bulging, twitching sweater darlings had this to say!" Buster added.

They cut over to city hall where the three large ladies were being filmed.

"We just had a little chat with Mayor Swellow." Bethany explained. "And he agreed that Tranquil Town needs to be nice!"

"Behave!" Barbara ordered.

"And be quiet!" Blair shouted with bloodshot eyes.

"Bedtime is now 6 pm." Destiny worried. "Be very afraid!"

"Six o' clock?!" Jackie said exasperated. "What are we? Infants?!"

The five stepped outside the gym and had a look around.

"Everything looks the same to me." Corey pointed to a man about to cross the street. "Just look at that guy!"

Then suddenly, Barbara came out of nowhere and glared down at the man.

"Aren't you going to help an old lady cross the street?! Such poor manners!" she picked the man up and with one flick, sent him flying all the way across town.

Jackie and the gang stood still in horror.

"Well, we should be more polite." Corey chuckled as everyone gave him a look.

In another part of town, a fairly muscled guy was taking a walk with his dog. The dog's loud barks scared everyone on the sidewalk. Everyone except Blair.

"Your mongrel should be on a leash!" she roared, holding up a leash attached to a collar with spikes on it.

The dog was terrified and ran away. Blair used the leash to catch the dog's owner and started hitting him against her fist like a paddleball. When she was done with him, she turned around and saw Jackie and Grojband.

"Hey! Off the grass hooligans!" she commanded.

Because they didn't want to end up like the grannies' past victims, the kids did as they were told and stepped off the grass.

"Rules are rules!" Corey smiled sheepishly. "Right?"

The grannies' next target was out at sea, where Captain Undergarments and his crew were dancing to a pirate shanty. Barbara leaped onto the ship, causing the pirates to jump.

"KEEP IT DOWN!" she screamed and used her giant fists to sink the entire ship.

Corey was watching through a telescope. The others gave him angry glares.

"That's rough." Corey said. "But those pirates did turn Jackie into a serving wench and make us walk the plank!"

The teens headed for the Indie Road Rager next, where all of the racers were moving very slowly. This was because Blair was watching them from behind.

"Nice and slow you tadpoles!"

Apparently, one of the racers had had enough of moving slow and started speeding up. Unfortunately, Bethany caught him with her fists.

"Don't hurry dearie. SAFETY FIRST!"

"Core, this town has gotten a whole lot safer and a whole lot more dangerous!" Laney told the front man.

"I guess you're right Lanes. But on the up-side, we've seen a lot of neat stuff today!"

"Dude. Not cool." Jackie glared.

**CRUSHING PEOPLE IS KIND OF NEAT!**

"Okay, so maybe the town is ruled by ape-like granny tyrants." Corey said when they got back to the garage.

Kon raised his hand. "Can we call them grandmapes?"

"No! Gorillandmas!" Kin argued.

"Well, those grannies may be able to do anything they want…" Jackie went on. "But one thing they can't do is make you guys stop jamming!"

"Yeah! Let's rock!" Corey picked up his guitar and played a chord.

**CRASH!**

Blair burst through the garage door and she looked angry.

"QUIET!"

"But that's not fair!" Jackie fought back. "They're a band! A loud one! You can't shut them up!"

"Do I have to cut me a switch?"

All five stared at Blair, having no idea what she was talking about.

"That means cut a small branch from a tree." she explained. "AND WHACK YOUR BOTTOMS WITH IT!"

"Oh…" the kids nodded then shook their heads. "No…"

"Good. Bedtime in five minutes." Blair reminded them. "DON'T MAKE ME TUCK YOU IN!"

The enlarged elder roared and stomped out of the garage.

"Things bad enough for you now Core?" Laney asked.

"Of course they are! This is exactly the kind of thing that would make things bad enough for me!"

Kon sat down on the couch.

"Oh boy! A TV!" he pressed a button on the remote, turning the TV on. The other four watched with him.

"It's almost bedtime!" Destiny Providence reported. "Go to bed! Quick! Before they find you!"

Bethany came up behind Destiny holding a rag.

"Now let's get that makeup off!" she rubbed the rag all over Destiny's face. "No one wants the news from a painted flirty-bird!"

Jackie shut off the TV. "That's it! There's no flirtier bird than Tracy! We can get lyrics from her diary if we set those grannies loose on her!"

"For once, I don't see how lyrics are gonna help Jacks." Laney responded. "We need a tank!"

"But they will help! Listen, if loud, fast speed metal got those old ladies pumped up, then nice, easy, slow metal might calm them down! Maybe even turn them back to their smaller yet sweeter selves!"

Laney checked her watch. "Well, it's almost bedtime so we'd better move fast. I don't wanna get tucked in!"

"Nobody does Laney." Jackie began thinking. "Which is why we need bait to lure those gorillandmas back to Tracy."

Kin gasped and hearts surrounded him.

"She picked my name! She likes me…she really likes me…"

Jackie looked over at Kin and got an idea.

"That's it! Kin!"

Kin zipped up in front of the manager with hearts in his eyes.

"Yes Jackie?"

"Will you do me a favor?"

"Anything for you."

"I need you to act as bait so we can get those grannies to where Tracy is."

Kin frowned when Jackie said this.

"What?! But-but they'll crush me! There's no way I'll survive against them! You saw my abless and nippleless chest! I'm useless!"

Jackie wrapped Kin around her arm.

"You're not useless. Sure those grandmas may be bigger and definitely stronger than you, but you're still smarter than them!"

"You really think I can do it?"

"It's like they all say: brains beats brawn every time." Jackie poked Kin's nose and made him faint.

So while everyone else headed back to the gym, Kin started roller-skating down the street while playing the trumpet and eating from a bag of pretzels.

"I can do this…Jackie believes in me." Kin whispered to himself before yelling: "I'm eating after bedtime and making lots of noise!"

Blair, Barbara, and Bethany all charged for the boy in glasses and he led them straight to the gym where Tracy was. She was currently watching Rick doing crunches.

"If Rick keeps demonstrating crunches, he may end up with the mythical seventh ab."

"Just a few dozen more!" Tracy anticipated. "I almost understand what to do."

"Hey Tracy!" Jackie teased. "Why don't you count Rick's abs?"

"Get lost Jackie!" Tracy demanded. "That is a good idea though."

She pointed her finger at Rick's abs and was about to start counting until Kin interrupted her with his trumpet. She snarled at him but decided to focus on Rick and his muscles.

"One…"

With a loud crash, the three muscular grannies burst through the walls of the gym.

"It's past your bedtime tadpoles!" Bethany exclaimed.

"Look!" Jackie pointed at Tracy. "A girl touching a boy!"

"And wearing yoga pants!" Barbara picked up Tracy and immediately put her in a long skirt. Then she passed her to Blair.

"Too much angle!" Blair put Tracy in a bag and shook her up.

"Eeek!" Tracy shrieked as she fell out of the bag with her hair all messed up.

"So much makeup!" Bethany used her rag on Tracy's face to remove all of her makeup.

"Now let's bun up that hair Hollywood!" Barbara rubbed her hands together and pulled Tracy's long, black hair into a bun. This made her entire face stretch out.

"And no kissing until it's proper!" Barbara ordered.

"When will it be proper?" Tracy said through clenched teeth.

"Ten years should do." Blair replied.

"Ten years?!" Tracy tried to run away but Bethany caught her.

"Where do you think you're going dearie?"

Tracy was extremely upset.

"Like, five seconds ago, everything was perfect! I MISS THE GOOD OLD DAYS!"

The teenager turned deep red and she screamed. She then shot out of Bethany's fist and went into her angry Diary Mode. This time she was surrounded by weights and Billy's gym hat. She grabbed her diary and pen and began writing. This made a barbel one of the gym's patrons was using, as well as a water cooler, explode. Not long after, Tracy was finished and Corey caught her diary.

"Ladies? I'm sorry my band was so loud before." Jackie apologized. "Is it okay if they sing you a quieter song? You know, a song about the way things used to be?"

"Aww…she's so polite!" Bethany commented. "All right sweetheart. You can stay up for five more minutes."

"Hit it guys!"

Grojband was decked out in old-timey outfits. Corey started singing.

_It seems like a minute ago_

_Things were bright and all aglow_

_But today's so very grey_

_A display of decay_

_But the best was yesterday_

_Yesterday_

_We were all cheery back then_

_So have a seat dear remember when_

_The times they were happy_

_And the clothes were snap, snap, snappy?_

_Oh yesterday_

_The smiles they were smiling (yeah)_

_The styles were styling (yeah)_

_Today will never (nooo)_

_Whatsoever (noooo)_

_Be as good as yesterday_

_Yesterday_

_Yeah, the best was yesterday_

_Yesterday-ay-ay-ay_

_Yesterday_

As the band sang, Rick continued to demonstrate crunches until…pop! Another ab appeared on his chest.

"Wow. Ab number seven. Good session Rick."

Tracy got up from her diary mode and when she saw Rick's new ab, she fainted.

As for Macy, she was still lying on her mat, all scrunched up into a ball.

"Can someone help me?" she begged. "I've been in a lot of pain all day…"

Jackie and Grojband gave satisfied smiles when they saw that all three of the granny monsters had fallen asleep.

"Well, they're asleep and rocking." Laney noted. "They should be back to normal in forty-nine more classes."

"Well Core, I hope you've learned that some things aren't meant to be done quickly." Jackie said.

"You're right about that Jacks." a spotlight shined on Corey. "You can learn to rock in five seconds, but it could take a lifetime to unlearn. The harder you rock, the younger you feel. You can take the world by the face and punch it to whatever you want. As long as you never forget to remember to never stop rocking."

"So…did we help Billy?" Kon asked.

"I doubt it. Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

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**6 chapters until the new story...**

**Only two spots are available for episode requests now! Better hurry if you want an episode put in before the original chapters! See you guys tomorrow (if you review this chapter quickly). **


	47. Subtraction Action

**Hey guys. Sorry I didn't upload this new chapter yesterday. I was actually planning on updating last night since you guys gave me a ton of reviews, but I got caught up in writing other chapters. Hope you don't mind me being a day late. This one is based off of "Math of Kon" which was suggested to me by my good friend, The Mad Hatter. Hope you like it!**

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**Chapter 47**

**Subtraction Action**

"Today, math takes the stage at the semi-biannual Tranquil Town Trimathalon!" the commercial on TV said. "Live right here on the Subation Station! The home of televised math! Solve for excitement!"

Corey shut off the TV and faced his friends.

"Guess who just booked us a gig rocking the Trimathalon?"

There was a brief pause before Kon spoke up.

"Just tell us! This game always takes forever!"

"We're playing a math competition? Awesome!" Kin cheered.

"I was gonna say Nerdsville." Laney complained.

"It's live TV Lanes!" Corey tried to convince the red-head. "We'll reach every nerd in town! A totally untapped fanbase! Grojband equals math rock! And when smart people like us, everyone else will like us! So that they look smart too!"

"Yeah Laney. Give it a chance." Jackie said. "I think the Trimathalon might be fun. In fact, math's the only school subject I can actually get behind. I love numbers!"

Kin had hearts in his eyes. "There's a new reason to love her everyday…"

"I don't know Jacks." Kon replied. "You may be good at math, but I'm not. I failed it for like…" he looked at his hands. "How many hands is six fingers?"

Jackie giggled. "That's a good one Kon! You crack me up!"

Kin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, as if he's joking."

"Aw, you know all the math you need to buddy." Corey claimed. "You can count us in right?"

Kon hit his drumsticks together. "One, two, three, four!"

The band started practicing their music. Tracy could hear them all the way from her room.

"Grr…I can't focus and junk with all that rockin' racket! Hashtag…" she made a hashtag in the air. "Silence! That's it! I'm so not letting Jackie's dumb band near the Trimathalon!"

Tracy picked up her phone and dialed Mayor Swellow's number. He was already at the school setting up for the Trimathalon when he heard his phone ring.

"Swellow? I won't stand for that!" he greeted. "Oops. Sorry. Jumped the gun. What are you calling about?"

**MONKEY WRENCH TRANSITION!**

"What do you mean my band can't play?" Jackie said once she and Grojband were at the school.

"Word has it your drummer's a math failer." Mayor Swellow pointed at Kon. "Can't have him on stage when we're giving it up for numbers."

"But he doesn't even go to this school!"

"Doesn't matter. This is a math tournament. Letting somebody who's not good at math represent the whole event would ruin our school's reputation." Mayor Swellow left the room, high-fiving Tracy on the way out.

"Guess whose sister totally snitched you out!" Tracy remarked. "Looks like the Big Ball of Lard isn't the only failer around here. Hashtag…Sabotage!"

"You told Mayor Swellow about Kon?!" Jackie cried.

"Duh! There isn't room at this thing for you plus me. So I minused you."

"Hold on. Why would you want to go to a math-related event?"

"I have my super secret reasons."

And then the older Matthews girl walked out the door.

"Don't worry Jacks!" Corey spoke. "I know how to solve this problem! I'll go see if I can change the mayor's mind."

The blue-haired kid headed to town hall so he could meet with Mayor Swellow. Once he was in his office, he knew exactly what to say. However, the mayor didn't let him say anything because he already knew what he wanted to talk about.

"Tell you what kid. If your drummer learns six years of math in one day and wins the Trimathalon, I'll let your band play. A-OK?"

"Yes!" Corey fist-pumped and headed back to the school to tell his friends.

"That does not solve our problem Core." Laney told him.

Meanwhile, in the girls' bathroom, Kelsey and Alyssa were freshening themselves up in the mirror. That is, until a horrible shadow crept up behind them and scared them away. Turns out, the shadow belonged to Tracy, who had yet another evil plan. She took a few things out of her purse and started changing her clothes. She covered her blue tank top with a checkered jacket, put on a pair of glasses, and then used a pencil to tie her hair up in a bun.

"Done! Now it's time to outnerd these nerds as my completely surprising alter-ego!"

Tracy walked out of the bathroom and she could tell her disguise was already working when Macy came up to her and said:

"Hey! Trigonometracy! What's up girl?"

Tracy smiled and fist-pumped the nerdette.

"Macy. My intellectual equal."

"Wanna go get our Omega 3 on with a brain-strengthening fish oil smoothie?"

"Sure! I secretly love those nerd smoothies! Uh, I mean…I love fish oil smoothies. Openly!"

Macy grinned. "It's amazing to have a BFF that likes brain food and doesn't yell at me! I mean, Tracy's awesome but-"

Tracy covered the shorter girl's mouth.

"She totally is! Let us count the first hundred ways she's awesome! You go first."

"Uh…" Macy couldn't think of a single reason as to why Tracy was awesome which made Tracy growl.

When Jackie and the gang made it back to the garage, Kin set up a chalkboard so he could teach Kon the math he needed to win the Trimathalon.

"I have to learn six years of math?! That could take like…" Kon lifted up his foot. "Three hands!"

"It's okay Kon. Learning math is easy!" Jackie insisted. "Especially when you've got a teacher as smart and clever as your own brother!"

Kin blushed. "Aw, Jackie…you really think so?"

"Are you kidding? You're the smartest kid in all of Tranquil Town!"

"Aww…thanks. I do love math. I even have a favorite equation. Kin plus Jackie equals love…"

"That's the spir-wait, what?"

Kin quickly corrected himself. "Uh, I mean…Kin plus…math…y…equals love. Yeah! That's it! Because I'm in love with math! Yeah…totally…"

Kon scoffed. "Okay Professor. So tell me. How are you going to teach me six years of math in one day?"

"Easy bro! I'll just drop some number knowledge on you with our twin tuition!" Kin grabbed Kon's face and looked into his eyes. "Give me your mind!"

With their twin tuition, Kin was able to go inside Kon's brain. There he found the place where Kon's knowledge of math was stored. Kin became worried when he saw that the place was boarded up.

"This doesn't look promising…" he told himself as he opened the door. "Gasp!"

When the young scientist looked inside, he saw a ton of numbers fighting and making a mess. There was fire everywhere.

"Kin?" Jackie's voice was heard. "Kin? Kin!"

Kin snapped back to reality.

"Kin, what happened? What did you see?"

"It's horrible!" Kin explained. "The math center of Kon's brain is a complete war zone!"

"Well, can you fix it?"

"Nope. With the state his brain is in right now, there's nothing I can do."

"Grr…" Kon began drumming on his paper of math problems in frustration. "This is all I'm good for."

Suddenly, the numbers on the piece of paper started glowing and formulas came off of the page.

"Whoa! What's happening Kin?" Jackie dodged one of the equations.

"Of course!" Kin figured it out. "Drumming is a mathematical expression! Let's hear some Iron Pixies!"

Kon stood on his chair and played a fast rhythm. Even more answers appeared.

"No way…" Jackie was in awe.

"Don't forget Johnny Bongo!" Kin reminded his twin. "He played without drumsticks!"

Kon gained spirals in his eyes, as if he was under a hypnotic spell. He went over to his drums and started playing without his drumsticks.

"Whoa!" Corey and Laney went.

"Woohoo! Go Kon!" Jackie cheered. "Kongo Bongo!"

The answers to the math problems floated onto the chalkboard magically.

Laney was confused. "So, when Kon drums, he enters a kind of blissful genius trance?"

"And blah, blah, blah, he can nail the Trimathalon!" Corey concluded.

"See Kon?" Jackie poked her drummer's forehead. "I knew you had some of your brother's brains inside you the whole time. You're almost as smart as him!"

Kin became worried. "Um…but I'm still the smartest kid in town, right Jackie?"

Jackie poked Kin's nose. "Kin, you know nobody's smarter than you."

Kin sighed happily.

"All right Grojband!" Corey interrupted. "Let's rock these nerds like a geologist nerds rock!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

In another part of town, Tracy and Macy were actually having fun together for once. They had spent the day by sharing a delicious and nutritious fish oil smoothie, going to a math movie, and adding things up on an abacus. After that, they decided to chill out in the park.

"What's your favorite number Trig?" Macy asked.

"I so dig 101!" Tracy answered. "It's totally the first palindrome at prime!"

"I like 8! It's almost a snowman! Math is great!"

"Accurate. What's even most great is how you can use it to make revenge formulas!"

"Huh?"

"All the variables are the things your enemies do that bug you. And you multiply them all together and then x equals how much vengeance you dish out!" Tracy had an evil look in her eyes that made Macy nervous.

"Uh…I also like 2…"

**2 IS PRETTY GREAT!**

Later that night, Jackie, Tracy, and Grojband went to the Trimathalon. Mayor Swellow spoke into the microphone on stage.

"Welcome nerds and nerding enthusiasts to the x plus y semi-biannual Trimathalon!"

The audience, which mostly consisted of math nerds, applauded. Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kin were close to the stage so they could cheer Kon on.

"Even if Kon can win this, what are we gonna do about lyrics?" Laney asked Corey.

"Tracy said she'd be here." Corey replied. "Maybe we'll get some nerd to kiss her and freak her out."

"Don't look at me!" Kin gagged.

"All right, our first brain to brain competitors are Cameron Buttons…"

The audience sort of clapped.

"And Trigonometracy Addley!"

The audience went wild. Corey looked at the familiar girl on stage and gave a long gasp like he had figured something out. But then he went back to his usual oblivious self.

"I wonder where Tracy is."

"Let's do stuff with numbers!" Mayor Swellow declared.

The two competitors were each given a chalkboard with a math problem on it. Cameron looked at his board and scratched his chin. Tracy looked at hers as well and immediately thought of the answer.

"So easy!" she wrote down all of her work and circled her final answer.

Mayor Swellow checked the answer card.

"You're on to the next round!"

"Trig! Trig! Trig! Trig!" the audience chanted.

Tracy blew them all a kiss. She then noticed the pencil in her hair was starting to come undone so she quickly straightened it.

"Next up, Claire Root and Kon!"

Kon got onto the stage, holding his drumsticks and looking very nervous. Jackie smiled and gave him a reassuring thumbs-up. Kon looked at the problem on his chalkboard and started drumming. Spirals appeared in his eyes as he imagined himself playing his actual drums. The answer appeared on the board and Kon shook his head like he didn't know what happened. Mayor Swellow covered his ears.

"That was the loudest math I've heard all day! But you got it right so Claire goes away!"

Claire ran offstage in tears and Kon took the spotlight.

"He won!" Jackie clapped. "Only ten more rounds to go!"

The Trimathalon went on for, as Jackie said, ten more rounds. Tracy and Kon were the victors for every single one. Tracy won with her incredible knowledge of numbers and Kon won with his incredible drumming skills. Eventually, all of the other competitors were eliminated and Kon and Tracy were the only ones left.

"And we're set for our final round between Kon and Trigonometracy!" Mayor Swellow informed the audience.

Kon looked over at Tracy, looking absolutely terrified.

"Kon doesn't look so good." Kin observed.

"Neither does our shot at this gig." Laney added.

"C'mon guys! Have faith!" Jackie encouraged them. "I'm sure Kon will wipe the floor with that complete stranger!"

Tracy took a look at the final problem before giving Kon a death stare. He tried to ignore her and focus on drumming up the answer. But then…

**SNAP!**

Kon watched in horror as both of his drumsticks broke in half and landed on the stage floor. He got on his knees and sobbed.

"NOOOOO!"

"Aw man!" Kin cried. "Kon broke his sticks!"

"Yeah Kin. We know." Jackie pointed out. "The author wrote that in already."

"There's no way he can win now!" Laney panicked.

Then Corey got an idea.

"Oh yes there is! Remember Johnny Bongo? He played without drumsticks!"

The beanie-wearing boy dashed off and returned with a bucket.

"Kon! Remember Johnny Bongo!" he jumped into the air and tossed the bucket to his fat friend.

Kon looked at the bucket and smiled.

"Kon…go…Bongo!" he started playing the bucket as if it were a bongo drum and gave Tracy a competitive glare. She sent one right back at him, indicating that it was on.

As Kon drummed, he imagined himself and Tracy battling in his brain. The imaginary Tracy soared through the air and shot an energy ball at Kon. Kon created a shield with magic and used it to defend himself. The energy ball hit the shield and turned into a bunch of numbers. After that, Kon transformed the shield into a sword and ran at Tracy. Tracy landed on the ground and created a sword of her own, which she then clashed against Kon's sword. Kon was stronger than Tracy and managed to knock the sword out her hands. But Tracy wasn't ready to give up. She quickly jumped behind her opponent and kicked him to the curve. It was at that moment she was ready to defeat him. Using her magic, she sent another energy ball toward Kon, which slowly transformed into a greater-than sign. Kon was scared at first but then he remembered all of his training. He held out his hands, causing the greater-than sign to screech to a halt. Then he used his mind to turn the greater-than sign into a less-than sign. He gave the mathematical symbol a push and it came back at Tracy, hitting her in the face.

Back in the real world, Tracy couldn't concentrate because of Kon's drumming. Because of this, he came up with an answer before she did and it appeared on the chalkboard.

"We have a correct answer here in the math of Kon!" Mayor Swellow handed the Trimathalon trophy to Kon, indicating that he won. All of the nerds applauded.

"No fair!" Tracy whined. "I can't focus and junk with all that rockin' racket! Hashtag…Silence!"

"Trigonometracy…is Tracy?!" Jackie finally figured it out.

"No way!" Corey was just as surprised as she was. "Your sister has a secret identity? I had no idea!"

Kin glanced at Laney. "Are they oblivious to everything?"

"It would appear so."

"Hey…wait a second…" Jackie scratched her chin. "I think I know how we can get lyrics! Tracy is supposed to be the coolest girl in school. If everyone were to find out she has a nerdy secret, she'll go completely diary!"

"How do we get the secret out?" Laney inquired.

"Argh…" Tracy was still upset about losing to the dim-witted drummer of her sister's band. The pencil in her hair started wiggling. "This couldn't get worse!"

"Looks like Tracy's wound a little tight." Jackie snickered. "Corey? Would you mind letting her hair down?"

"It would be my pleasure Jacks!" Corey took out his guitar pick and flicked it. The pick bounced off the back wall, the stage floor, the chalkboard, and finally the pencil in Tracy's hair, causing it to fall out and reveal her true self. All of the nerds in the room gasped.

"It's Tracy Matthews!" one of them said. "She likes math…"

"Just like us!" another confirmed. "We love you Tracy!"

"You're mine!"

"Tracy! Tracy! Tracy!"

Tracy covered her face in embarrassment.

"I'm like you. I'm so like you! First I lose to that Big Ball of Lard and now you all know my secret! Grr…" she scowled. "KOOOONNNN!"

The roof of the school came off as Tracy entered her diary mode. She was surrounded by numbers and variables. She grabbed her diary and wrote flames across the pages. All of the nerds' glasses cracked and so did the stage lights. After that, Tracy was finished and she landed on top of the huge crowd of math geeks. They lifted her up in the air and chanted.

"Tracy! Tracy! Tracy! Tracy!"

The diary landed in Corey's hand.

"Well, that was easy!" Jackie said. "You guys ready?"

Corey and the others took the stage, wearing hats with square roots on top of them.

"Are you nerds ready to rock?!"

_Who cares if I rock a square root?_

_I'll figure out your arithmetic sequence to boot_

_Just cause I'm equal to or greater than you_

_Doesn't mean I belong in here with all you congruents_

_I get a kick out of trapezoids_

_But if they ever found out I would be destroyed_

_Newton is my favorite mathletic dude_

_But that's a big secret in my neighborhood_

_Kon!_

Kon started playing an amazing drum solo that made all of the nerds drop Tracy and turn their attention over to him. Somehow, the drum solo made them become popular and cool. Then suddenly…

**SNAP!**

Kon's drumsticks broke again. But this time, he knew he didn't need them.

"Kongo Bongo!" he cried and started playing with his hands. Kin played his keyboard along with him.

_Who cares that I love trigonometry?_

_If that makes me like you then I don't wanna be me_

_Yeah!_

By the time the song ended, Tracy had finally made her way out of the huge crowd.

"Tracy?"

The dark-haired girl looked up and saw Macy standing over her.

"You love math like me!"

"Ugh…I think I need a soda Macy…" Tracy grabbed her head. "The kind that stunts your growth and junk."

Macy nodded and helped her friend up.

Once all of the former nerds left the school, Jackie and Grojband celebrated another successful gig.

"Way to go guys!" Jackie complimented her band. "You rocked the egg out of those eggheads!"

Kin blushed. "Gee, thanks Jackie. I-"

"Kon your drum solo was so awesome!" Jackie hugged the biggest band member. "We never would have been able to do this if it wasn't for you!"

"But…I taught him everything he knows!" Kin reminded her before getting interrupted by Corey.

"Can you guys believe it? We rocked out on city wide TV!" the leader then realized something. "Oh no! We made every nerd in Tranquil Town cool!"

"How is that a bad thing?" Laney asked him.

Laney's question was immediately answered when the power went out all over town. Mayor Swellow came on stage, decked out in a cool outfit.

"Without the nerds, Tranquil Town's got no one to run the electricity, water, and trains!" he explained. "You kids want jobs in the field of mathematics?"

"Thanks but no thanks Mayor Swellow." Corey gained a spotlight. "Math should be left alone. It is what it is. Confusing and painful and only for a few of us to understand. Nerds can really make math do its thing by turning numbers into electricity and running water. And sometimes into music."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Jackie said. "How can there be a spotlight on you if there's no electricity?"

"Math is one thing Jacks, but fanfiction logic is another! Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**5 chapters until the new story...**

**I only have one more chapter written up right now and I'm planning on finishing another one tonight. In the meantime, tell me some episodes that you want redone in this story and I'll put them up as soon as possible. Right now, there are still two spots available for episodes before I post the original multi-part story so send in your suggestions quickly! See you guys later!**


	48. Bummer Camp

**Thanks for the requests guys! This next story is based on "Creepaway Camp" which was suggested to me by AA. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 48**

**Bummer Camp**

It was approximately 0600 hours. Jackie and the gang were all riding on a bus that was taking them somewhere deep out in the woods. None of them knew where they were going exactly. Well, Corey did. In fact, he was the reason they were going to this mysterious location in the first place. He didn't tell his bandmates about it though, because he wanted it to be a surprise. But it had something to do with packing up all of their gear, a couple of sleeping bags, and enough food to last for a week. After a two-hour drive, the bus finally dropped the five off at a strange looking place they had never seen before. It had log cabins on every corner, a huge swamp, and a stone circle in the middle. They looked up at the sign near the entrance, which read 'Camp Scarcely'.

"Uh, Core?" Jackie spoke up. "Is this the surprise you were telling us about?"

"You know it Jacks! I told you it was gonna be awesome! So, what do you guys think?"

"I think, you've got some 'splaining to do Corey." Laney answered. "A campground? What's Grojband's next big thing? S'mores?"

"It's not just any campground Lanes!" Corey went on. "This is Camp Scarcely! Every year, kids come from miles around to be traumatized by an acoustic combat creep show! A battle of the bands to decide the scariest campfire scare band! This year, it's gonna be us!"

"Camp Scarcely, eh?" Kon scratched his chin and thought to himself.

_"__That sounds familiar. In a foreshadow-y kind of way."_

"Listen up!" a loud, demanding voice interrupted the drummer's thoughts. The friends looked beside them and saw Tracy talking into a megaphone. They all covered their ears.

"You little twizerppy twerps don't stand a chance in the scary song contest or whatever! Especially not when you're at a camp where I'm head counselor!"

"Core!" Laney scolded. "You brought us to a camp where Jackie's sister is the boss of us?"

"And besides," Tracy continued. "Have you seen your competition?"

Jackie gasped when she saw the competitors.

"Jack Matterson?!"

"Good guess Matthews." Jack remarked. "Being observant is one thing you're good at. You remember my band, don't you?"

"Gasp! Not the Newmans!" Kin and Kon yelped.

The Newmans came out from behind Jack and did poses.

"Core!" Laney said again. "You brought us to a camp where Jackie's sister is the boss of us, and we have to compete against our mortal enemies?!"

Corey smiled sheepishly. "Well, it doesn't sound as good when you say it out loud."

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

The two bands faced off between the two performing stages, where the competition would take place.

"Well, looks like you came a long way for nothing Matthews." Jack taunted.

"If by nothing, you mean to watch you cry when your band loses, then you're right Matterson."

"How dare you!" Kim shouted. "Jack's the best manager in Tranquil Town! He doesn't cry!"

"That's where you're wrong Kagami!" Kin argued. "Jackie's the best manager in Tranquil Town and you know it!"

The keyboardists got in each other's faces.

"Nuh-uh! Jack is!"

"Jackie is!"

"Jack!"

"Jackie!"

"JACK!"

"JACKIE!"

The two nerds felt hands touching their shoulders.

"Settle down now Kim." Jack pushed Kim toward the back.

"I'll take care of this one Kin." Jackie did the same.

Both kids in glasses swooned into their twin sibling's arms and sighed.

"Grojband's campfire song is gonna toast the Spewmans' song like a marshmallow!" Jackie insisted. "But it'll get so toasted, it'll just ooze and fall in the fire! And it's not delicious, it's just ruined!"

"Oh, is that so?" Jack scoffed. "Well, whatever the worst burn of your life was, imagine it just got sent to you…twice!"

"Am I crazy, or do we have to totally crush them?" Corey asked Laney.

Laney smiled and punched the palm of her hand. "I love a good grudge match!"

Tracy joined the two groups so she could explain the rules to them.

"So like, here we all are at this dumb song contest." she held up a badly-made trophy. "Whoever does the scariest song will win this lame trophy I guess."

Then the teen's bored expression turned to one of pure evil and hatred.

"But the losers…" she poked Jackie's chest. "Spoiler alert: it'll be Jackie and Fromojband. Will lose so hard, they'll totally explode or some junk and will never pollute my earholes with their grody music again!"

Tracy laughed evilly and walked away. Jack pretended to be sad.

"Aww…you hear that? Looks like you'll have to forfeit Matthews! But look at it this way. Now you won't need to waste any space on your empty trophy shelf!"

"Aw, just because Tracy's in charge doesn't mean we'll lose. The kids are the real judges, after all."

"Pfft. You're just jealous because my big sister loves me to pieces, while yours could care less if you fell in a hole and never came back."

"I don't need my sister's affection. Because I've got four awesome friends who are always there for me and love me a whole lot."

Kon was still holding a love-struck Kin.

"Some more than others."

Tracy walked up to where Macy was sitting. She had come to support her little brother. For once, she was actually surprised by Tracy's actions.

"Did you really sign us up at this creepy, buggy camp just so you could destroy your little sister?"

"As if!" Tracy snorted. "I want to get close to nature. And by nature, I mean hunky Rick Salary!"

Rick Salary had volunteered to be a lifeguard at Camp Scarcely. He was sitting in his lifeguard chair, polishing a flutter-board. He smiled as he saw his reflection inside of it.

"Looking good Flutter-board Rick Salary."

"Right back at ya, Lifeguard Rick Salary."

Later that night, The Newmans began rehearsing their song for the contest. To make sure the tune was frightening enough, they had a bunch of kids listen to it around the campfire. Jackie and Grojband watched from the bushes and saw how terrified the kids were.

"Even their sound check is enough to make kids wet the bed." Kin observed. "The only one who could top that would be-"

"Don't say it!" Kon begged.

"Blade-"

Kon covered his twin's mouth. "I mean it dude!"

Kin removed Kon's hand. "Slice-"

"Shh!"

"Slicington!"

Kon screamed in terror. Lightning struck from above and thunder boomed loudly.

"That's weird. It's not supposed to rain." Jackie said.

"Of course!" Corey beamed. "Blade Slicington, the campfire metal master!"

"Oh…" Jackie nodded. "Never heard of him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Laney interrupted. "Campfire metal is a thing?"

"Sure! And Blade was the king of it! He could turn even a boring song like 'How Many Bubbles In My Milk' into a pile of nightmares!"

"No way…" Jackie was mesmerized.

Kin climbed into Kon's mouth and shined a flashlight in his face.

"Legend has it that Blade Slicington founded a campground just like this…in a spooky forest…near a swamp…and he lived in a creepy old lighthouse!"

"_That's why this place sounded so familiar!" _Kon thought.

"_In a foreshadow-y kind of way." _Kin thought along with him using his and Kon's twin powers.

Corey looked out at the lighthouse across the campground.

"That's it! Grojband! We're going for a rock walk!"

Meanwhile, Tracy was roasting marshmallows with Rick and Macy. She sighed blissfully as she handed her crush a stick she sharpened herself. Rick took the stick and held it out to Macy so she could put a marshmallow on it. The nerdette took a marshmallow from the bag and went wide-eyed when she saw a giant bug resting on it.

"Eeek!" she jumped into Rick's arms. "Oh, sorry! Bugs just give me the creeps! It's all those legs! And even more knees…"

Tracy scowled and grabbed Macy by her shirt collar.

"Stop forcing my future boyfriend to comfort you and all your wussy fears and junk! That's my job! Wait a minute…" she dropped the red-head and started thinking. "Hm…"

**TRACY'S GOT AN EVIL PLAN!**

Jackie and Grojband were still climbing up the hill to get to the old lighthouse.

"Wow, this place sure looks scary…" Kin told Jackie. "But not to me. I'm not scared of anything!"

"Look out! A snake!" Kon cried.

"AAA! Where?!" Kin leaped into the air and grabbed Jackie by the head.

"Oops." Kon snickered. "Never mind. It's just a stick."

Jackie looked up at Kin and raised an eyebrow. Kin chuckled and let go of her.

"So, finding Blade Slicington and having him scare Tracy so bad, her brains leak out her nose and into her diary to give us lyrics to beat the Newmans was your plan all along?" Laney asked Corey.

"All along enough Lanes."

Then the lightning struck and the thunder boomed again. The five kids looked ahead of them and saw a tall, shadowy figure with an evil smile, holding what appeared to be a knife.

"AAAAAAA!" they shrieked at the silhouette's sharp knife.

"AAAAAAA!" they hollered at the creature's wicked, fangy smile.

"AAAAAAA!" they screamed at the pink apron the figure was wearing.

"Wait, what?" Corey stopped when he noticed this.

"Oh! Hello there!" the creepy looking creature was revealed to be a kind old man and the object he was holding was a pair of garden shears. "You gave me such a fright!"

"Sorry mister." Jackie apologized. "We were just looking for scare-master, Blade Slicington."

"He's about ten feet tall!" Kin described.

"With a heart made of souls!" Kon added.

"And has a flaming rat for a sidekick!"

"Oh, you mean Chew-Face?" the man took a dirty-looking rat out of his pocket. The rat coughed up a cloud of smoke.

"Aww…" Laney cooed for some reason.

"That's us!" the man said.

"You're scare-master, Blade Slicington?" Corey was confused.

"I used to be." Blade explained. "Now I'm retired. I'm a gardener now."

"Well, so much for your clever plan Core." Jackie said.

Shortly after, Blade allowed the five teens to take shelter in his lighthouse. He even let Laney hold Chew-Face for a bit. The tall, grey-haired gardener started cutting leaves off of a bonsai tree while telling Jackie and the band his story.

"I was the scariest thing on the planet. And Chew-Face used to be on fire 24/7."

Laney ran her hand through Chew-Face's fur, causing some smoke to come out of him.

"Now he's barely room temperature." Blade sighed.

"I don't get it. What changed?" Jackie inquired.

"You kids changed. It got harder and harder to get a fright out of you."

With that said, Blade began to cry.

"That poor man…" Jackie sympathized.

"Guys? Inspirational hum!" Corey ordered.

The others started humming a song as Corey went up to talk to Blade.

"Blade? You were the sickest. Kids would hear your songs and see eyes in every sink. Monsters in every fridge! Giant nine-headed snake otters in every toilet! I know you've got one good fright left in you. And we're trying to win the campfire scare band contest!"

Blade stopped crying. "They're still doing that?"

"Totally! And you're going to help us win it!"

Blade thought about what Corey said. Then after a few seconds, he spun his garden shears around and stabbed them into the table.

"I'll do it!"

"YAY!" the group cheered.

"But I'm rusty." Blade shrugged.

"It's nothing a little training narration can't fix!" Corey reassured him.

So the kids spent the next couple of hours helping Blade regain his title as the scare-master. First, Jackie gave Blade a giant shrub and some hedge clippers and told him to shape the shrub into something disturbing. Blade did so and shaped the shrub to look like…a bunny. Jackie shook her head in disappointment. So Blade tried again and this time, he made a bunny getting strangled by a bunch of tree branches. Jackie was impressed and horrified at the same time.

Laney tried to help Chew-Face get back his fiery personality by throwing him at a bunch of dummies to make him angry. But it didn't work.

Corey made Blade do some sit-ups while practicing his scary faces. Each one was better and scarier than before. Eventually, Corey covered his eyes and told Blade to stop.

Laney threw Chew-Face at the dummies again, only this time she threw him harder. This made Chew-Face very angry and green flames appeared on his back. He charged at Laney and bit her on the cheek.

"Ouch!" she squealed. "Aww…"

After a while, Blade was ready for the final test. Kin and Kon were standing next to a campfire, dressed as girl scouts.

"Would you like to buy some Kimmy Kamper cookies?" Kon curtsied toward Kin.

"I have the same cookies you have." Kin reminded him.

"Oh. Right. Then can I have one?"

"But you have the same-oh fine…" Kin handed him one. "As long as you don't tell Jackie that I was wearing a dress."

"Of course bro. I won't say a word." Kon pulled out his phone when Kin wasn't looking and snapped a picture of him.

Then suddenly, the fire went out and evil laughter could be heard. The twins stood still in horror as green flames appeared and Blade rose above them.

"You ladies got any…DOUBLE FUDGE?!" Blade made his scariest face yet and the two brothers screamed until their faces turned white.

"This…is…awesome…" they said together and fist-pumped weakly.

"Well, looks like you got your mojo back Blade!" Corey looked at Kin and Kon's faces and then at Blade's. "Yikes!"

Blade made his face go back to normal.

"Sorry! Sorry! My bad!"

**DOUBLE FUDGE TRANSITION!**

Back at Camp Scarcely, Tracy and Macy were standing on the docks near the swamp. Tracy had a plan to get Rick to like her by going on a boat ride with him. Macy was in charge of pushing the boat.

"A romantic boat ride is a total kiss factory!" Macy noted. "But, can't Rick just row the boat?"

"No way! Rick can't be romantic with me if he's too busy rowing a boat! That's why you're getting in the water and pushing it!"

"But what about the-wah!"

Before Macy could complain about whatever was in the water, Tracy kicked her off of the docks and she splashed in it. Rick entered the scene, carrying his flutter-board.

"Rick Salary heard loud screaming!"

Tracy pretended to be scared. "That was totally me and my fear! I'm afraid of…um…canoes!"

"Don't be afraid of canoes Tracy Matthews. Just think of it as a giant taco." Rick took Tracy by the hand and led her into the boat. "And we're the tasty filling."

Tracy smiled big, happy that her plan had worked. Macy paddled up to the canoe and started pushing with all her might. Once the boat was away from the docks, Tracy knew it was the perfect opportunity to kiss Rick. She closed her eyes, puckered her lips, and waited for Rick to lean in and do the same. But he didn't. After a while, he said:

"You've been leaning in for that kiss for a long time. Rick Salary's gonna tie his shoes."

Tracy kept her eyes closed and her lips puckered. Jackie and Grojband were hiding out in the swamp. "There they are!" Jackie informed her band. "It's show time!"

They started playing ominous music and Blade crept up behind the boat.

"Do you know what you're doing fools?!" he yelled. "You're trespassing…on private PROPERTYYYYY!"

Blade opened his mouth and a bunch of snakes and tentacles came out of it. Macy shrieked and jumped into Rick's arms. Tracy however, wasn't scared like she was.

"Argh!" she complained. "You totally ruined my kiss! That's it! It's pounding time!"

The black-haired girl pounced on Blade and they both fell into the water. When Tracy reemerged from the swampy liquid, she was covered in muck and leaves. Then she saw Macy in Rick's arms and got very angry.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"The swamp monster ate Tracy!" Macy cried.

Rick just shrugged. "Rick Salary's going for tacos."

The popular boy dropped the girl in glasses, pulled out a motor, and attached it to the back of the canoe. Before Tracy had the chance to inflict pain on Macy, Rick started the motor and the boat went away.

"Wait! Rick!" Tracy called furiously. "Where are you going?! WITH MACY?!"

"Huh. I was kind of hoping for another fear diary mode." Jackie said. "But this works too!"

Tracy shot up into the air surrounded by marshmallows. Her diary and pen floated into her hands and she began writing. Lightning struck the campground and all of the campfires shot out fire. Then Tracy turned back to normal and landed in the murky swamp waters. Corey caught her diary.

"Triumphance!" he announced. "Let's win that contest guys!"

"Wait Corey!" Jackie stopped him. "What about Blade?"

Then the five friends heard loud coughing behind them. They turned around and saw Blade drenched in swamp water.

"Blade! You're okay!" Jackie was relieved.

"Not really. I think I have a frog in my throat." Blade opened his mouth to reveal an actual frog in his throat.

"Whew! Do not go in there!" the frog said.

When they all returned to the campgrounds, the scare band contest had already started. The Newmans were performing their song on stage.

_And in the darkest night_

_You can see the light_

_You finally know_

_What gave you that fright_

_They're not just ghosts_

_They're ghosts of clowns…_

_…__Who are also dentists!_

The kids screamed in delight at the copycat band's song. Jack applauded before glaring at Jackie.

"Beat that Matthews!"

"Oh, I don't have to." Jackie snapped her fingers and a green fire was lit. The group of kids turned around and saw Grojband performing on the other stage.

_Corey: Have a seat_

_Rest your feet_

_No escape, no retreat_

_Yeah!_

_Welcome to my nightmare_

_There is no joy_

_There are just cries_

_And gallons of muck_

_That leak from my eyes_

_Kin/Kon/Laney: Ooh yeah!_

_You feel my nightmare_

Blade rose from the fire and showed his most terrifying face to the already-terrified kids. Then he looked at Jack and the Newmans and threw a flaming Chew-Face at them.

_Corey: Why can't you see my face?_

_Welcome to my nightmare_

_Yeah!_

Jack and the Newmans ran away screaming as Chew-Face crashed onto the stage and destroyed their instruments. And judging by the cheers coming from the children, Grojband knew they had won. Then Jackie heard a series of sobs coming from the Newmans' stage. She and the others peeked behind it and saw Jack and the Newmans sprawled out on the ground. Tears were streaming down Jack's face. Jackie grinned.

"Aw, look guys! The wittle baby is crying! He must need his wittle diaper changed!"

Grojband laughed.

"Shut up Matthews!" Jack yelled. "I'm not crying! It's just an allergy to losers!"

"Wow, it must be rough to be allergic to oneself!" Jackie joked.

Jack hugged Kim tightly.

"It was so horrible Kim…that face…it's gonna haunt me for the rest of my life!"

"Oh, there, there Jack." Kim wiped his tears away. "It's okay. You can cry if you need to."

"I'm not crying!" Jack insisted. "Look, can we just go home now?"

Kim helped Jack up and the rival band made their exit.

"Sheesh, what a fraidy-cat." Jackie commented.

"All right! We killed it Jackie!"

Jackie turned around and saw Blade still doing his super scary face.

"Blade!" she covered her eyes.

"Sorry! My bad!"

Macy, meanwhile, had just gotten back from the boat ride and was looking for Tracy. She spotted a huge pile of muck and leaves sitting on a log.

"Oh! There you are! I just sent you a text. Sorry about before."

Just then, Tracy came up behind the red-head, all cleaned up.

"I got your text."

Macy was shocked. If Tracy was there, then who was inside the huge lump of swamp waste? She turned around slowly and screamed when she saw that the creature sitting on the log was a real swamp monster!

Jackie, Blade, and Grojband arrived back at Blade's lighthouse. Jackie handed the winner's trophy to Blade.

"Thanks for all your help Blade. We couldn't have done it without you. You deserve this."

"I'm the one who should be thanking you Jackie." Blade grinned. "You've reminded me of who I truly am. I can finally return home to my people in the Terror Nebula Fearmulon. Stay cool Grojband."

After his last words were said, he vanished.

"Wait, what just happened?" Jackie asked.

Then the ground started shaking and the teens ran away as the lighthouse turned into a rocket lighthouse and blasted into space.

"Did that lighthouse turn into a rocket lighthouse and blast into space?" Kin wondered.

Gee Kin, what was your first clue?"

"Space." a spotlight shined on Corey. "A dark void full of the cold, empty unknown. Where the only thing worse than the nothing is the forever. If you look too hard, you'll only see your own screaming face! Because space, like our souls, holds only the fear we put there."

The spotlight disappeared.

"Scary. Where was that last night?" Laney spoke up.

"Who knows fella?" Corey poked Laney's nose. "Who ever knows?"

Laney smiled and tiny hearts popped out of her.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**4 chapters until the new story...**

**There is only ONE slot left for episode requests. The pressure is on! This means that the next episode request I receive (as long as it's not one of the five that need to be saved), will be accepted. Any other requests that come after that will need to be held off until the multi-part story is over. That's all for now. See you later!**


	49. Super Bloopers

**I've been waiting so long for someone to request this episode. In case you couldn't tell from the title, it's based on "Super Zeroes" which was suggested to me by Michelle Rita, TheRegularGrojBandZ, and Bere-grojfan55. Hope it satisfies all three of you!**

* * *

**Chapter 49**

**Super Bloopers**

"I spy with my little eye…something that is Kin!" Kon said.

Kin crossed his arms and sighed.

"Is it me?"

"How'd you guess?"

"You said it was me."

Kon laughed as if Kin told a joke. Jackie laughed too while Laney just rolled her eyes.

Then Corey came into the garage and everyone heard screaming coming from outside.

"What's going on out there?" Jackie asked.

Corey grinned. "What if I said that was for us?"

"It is?!" Laney, Kin, and Kon got excited.

"Unfortunately, no." Corey shut the door.

"Aww…"

"But it could be! If we started playing kids' birthday parties! Think about it. We wow em now and ten years later, they're lining up for our music!"

Kon put a hand on Corey's shoulder.

"Corey? Normally, I'm the one who just loves whatever idea you have…" he paused. "And this time is no exception! I'm in! Woohoo!"

"Yeah, playing at birthday parties sounds fun!" Jackie agreed. "Especially if we get to have free cake!"

"Yay! We're a birthday band!" Kin exclaimed.

"We need a gimmick." Corey thought about what kind of band they could be. "Clown band? Cowboy band? Something with tails?"

"How about we be a Grojband?" Laney suggested.

The boys stood still in uncertainty.

"Nope."

"You lost me."

"Can't picture it."

Across the street in a kid's backyard was where the birthday party was being held. But the party wasn't for any ordinary kid. It was for Rick Salary's little brother, Vick Salary. The party had everything: a pool, pony rides, and even a chocolate fondue fountain. Rick had set up everything himself. Well, actually, he had a little help from a friend.

"Great party Rick." Tracy said.

"Rick Salary knows it. Thanks for helping out Tracy Matthews."

Tracy giggled. "No problem! Your little bro Vick is so cool!"

Vick was over by the presents, watching the birthday clown entertain a bunch of kids.

"Vick Salary thinks big clown shoes are fun…" he began. "But wants to kick this party up a notch."

Just then, pink smoke covered the backyard and caught all of the kids' attention.

"Whenever evil needs to be rocked…or villains need to face the music…you will find us! The Justice Band!"

The smoke cleared and revealed Grojband dressed as superheroes.

"I am Screechules! Ancient god of feedback!" Kin held up a speaker and aimed it at the party guests. This caused the chocolate fountain to explode all over them.

"Yay!" the kids cheered.

"I am Beat Bot! I thwart evil a hundred times a second!" Kon busted out a fast rhythm, which made the ground shake.

"Yay!"

"I'm Livewire. This is one sassy ninja you don't wanna tangle with." Laney unenthusiastically used the strings on her bass to snatch a soda from a little boy's hand.

"Yay!"

"And I'm Front Man! Fearless leader of the Justice Band!" Corey took the soda from Laney and took a sip. "I boss these guys around."

Jackie stepped forward.

"And I am the most powerful hero of them all! With the great ability to organize and book only the best gigs for my band, the Justice Band, I am…the Manager!"

The kids didn't cheer for Jackie since she wasn't wearing a costume and because she didn't have any cool powers like the band did. They just stood still in complete silence. A cricket sound could be heard from the audience. Jackie scratched behind her neck.

"Heh, heh…awkward…"

Despite Jackie's performance, Vick was very impressed.

"Vick Salary just found his headliner." he turned to the clown. "Those shoes were made for walking."

The clown looked down sadly and left.

Then suddenly, Jackie was yanked off the stage by none other than Tracy.

"What are you and your dorky friends doing here? I spent forever planning this party for mini-Rick! I'm the one who's making this party great! I brought the bouncy castle!" she referred to a giant bouncy castle that Macy was currently blowing up.

"Can I please use a pump?" she panted.

"Exist elsewhere!" Tracy ordered. "NOW!"

"Hello there angry young lady!" Corey greeted as a group of party guests carried him to the bouncy castle. "Did somebody order a hero?"

The kids threw Corey onto the bouncy castle, causing it to release some air. Macy, who was still blowing up the castle, bloated up and flew right into the cake.

"Great!" Tracy complained. "Now I have to make you bake another cake and help me destroy Jackie's dumb band!"

Macy stuck her head out of the cake. "Um…that'll be hard. Kids love superheroes."

"Hm…so you're saying I should cause something super dangerous just to prove they can't stop it and show these kids they're not heroes?"

"No…"

"That's perfect! Wait…purrfect huh? Macy? Get your cat."

**MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW!**

"Well done team!" Corey fist-bumped his bandmates. "Evil is vanquished and we got the gig!"

"And I suppose your superpowers include lyric writing?" Laney guessed.

"Relax Lanes! Diary mode is still another pin-the-tail-on-Tracy away!"

"Well you might wanna do it fast Core." Jackie warned him. "Because it looks like-"

Vick got on stage and spoke into a microphone.

"Vick Salary totally introduces the Justice Band."

"Never mind. Too late."

"Like, totally help and stuff!"

Jackie and the band looked over at Tracy and Macy. The latter was holding her cat, Dr. Meow.

"A poor kitty is stuck in the tree!" Tracy pointed to a nearby tree.

Kin looked up. "What kitty?"

Tracy picked up Macy and threw her, along with Dr. Meow, up the tree.

"Kitty needs a hero." Vick told Grojband. "Good thing we've got four."

"Five actually!" Jackie corrected him. "Who's ready to see the super amazing powers of…the Manager?!"

Once again, the kids didn't cheer. Jackie sighed and sat down.

"Fine. I can take a hint. Three cheers for the Justice Band and not me…"

The kids cheered and surrounded the fake heroes.

"Great. An audience." Laney observed. "No pressure."

"Aw, they're just kids Lanes." Corey reassured her.

"Uh, Corey?" Kon pointed at a camera that was recording them live. Destiny Providence was doing a news report.

"This just in! I was only hoping for free cake, but instead we're about to find out if the Justice Band are cool or a bunch of gutless frauds!"

Corey glanced at the camera.

"Uh…Livewire! Grab the branch!"

Laney did nothing at first.

"Oh! That's me! Sure!" she picked up her bass and launched the strings at the tree branch Macy and Dr. Meow were hanging off of.

"Now pull!"

All four band members started pulling the bass with all of their strength and the branch started leaning toward the ground. Macy was about to jump down but then the part of the branch with the bass strings on it broke off and launched her and Dr. Meow into the air. Dr. Meow landed on top of Tracy and clawed her face. He then jumped into Corey's arms, looking absolutely terrified. Macy came back down and crushed Tracy.

"And…the kitty's okay!" Corey announced.

"Yay!" everyone went.

Jackie wanted to meet up with her friends so she could congratulate them, but a huge crowd beat her to it.

"Um excuse me? Can I come through please? Hello? Hey! I can't see!" Jackie pushed her way through the group of people and got into the camera view. "Hey guys! Just wanted to say that that was totally cool the way you saved that kitty! It was all like whoosh! And cling! And sproing! And-"

"Ahem!" Destiny interrupted. "We're trying to get full shots of the heroes here! Move along now commoner!

"Commoner? I'm not a commoner! I'm their manager and I can talk to my band if I want-"

Jackie was then picked up by the crowd of Grojband's new fans and tossed aside.

"Superheroes!" Destiny reported. "Ready to protect and amaze the children of Tranquil Town!"

"Especially if you buy these high-intensity Justice Band signals!" Kin held up a flashlight. "Only $9.99!"

The keyboardist turned on the flashlight and aimed it at the sky. A lightning bolt with a music note on it shined on a cloud.

"Sweet!" Corey stood on a table. "With the word out, we can sit back and let the gigs roll in!"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

The next day, people from all over Tranquil Town were using their very own Justice Band signals to call for Grojband when there was a problem.

"Help us Justice Band!" a little girl cried while shining her signal flashlight in the sky.

With great speed, the four 'heroes' made it to the girl's backyard.

"We're here!" Corey exclaimed.

But it turns out that the only reason they were summoned was because a birthday clown was tied up in his own balloon animals. Corey used his pick to pop the balloons and set the clown free.

"Yay!" the kids cheered.

Jackie came into the backyard, completely out of breath.

"There you guys are!" she gasped. "I've been looking all over for you! We need to go over your new songs."

"Sure thing Jacks! C'mon guys let's-"

But before they had the chance to leave, the media showed up and started filming them.

"The Justice Band saves a clown from a deadly python!" Destiny informed the audience. "What super heroing!"

"Um, it was only a…" Corey tried to say but was interrupted.

"Only the greatest! And only the beginning! Look!" Destiny pointed to the sky where another signal was being sent out.

"C'mon Justice Band!" Corey ordered. "Duty calls!"

"Wait! Corey!" Jackie stopped him. "What about rehearsal?"

"Don't worry Jacks! This won't take long! We'll get back to our music as soon as we save the day!"

"Yeah. You know we'd never leave you hanging when it comes to practicing our music." Kin blushed. "I know I wouldn't."

"Why don't you go back to the garage and we'll meet you there when we're done?" Laney suggested.

Jackie was a bit disappointed.

"Well…okay."

"Thanks Jacks! We knew you'd understand!" Corey led the others out of the backyard. "Justice Band! Away!"

After the four left, Jackie sighed. Since her friends had become the town heroes, she couldn't help but feel a little left out.

The band headed to the place where the signal was coming from: a pizza parlor. A young boy had gotten himself stuck in the ball pit. Laney used her bass to pull him out and he landed safely in Corey's arms.

"A scared child! Pulled from the deep!" Destiny announced.

Kin checked the actual depth of the pit and found that it was small. "Deep?"

At that point, Corey and the others were sure they had a break and would be able to go back to the garage to practice with Jackie. But a signal shining in the sky showed them that their job wasn't done yet.

This time, the signal was being shined by a little boy who had dropped his ice cream on the ground. He was still crying about it even when the band got there. Corey sighed, picked up the scoop, and put it back on the kid's cone. The kid smiled and licked his dirty but delicious frozen treat.

"Wow!" Destiny showed up with a camera crew. "I missed this one! But you can bet the Justice Band did something truly incredible!"

Laney pulled Corey aside so she could talk with him privately.

"Core, we haven't played a note yet! We're just getting more famous as heroes! We're not even doing anything!"

Kin and Kon sat down.

"Then why are we so tired?" Kin asked Laney.

"Guys, chill out!" Corey reassured his friends. "We'll get to play at one of these parties eventually! C'mon! Let's go back home so we can practice our new song with Jackie! Then once we perform, people will see what we're really about!"

"No good deed is too small for these devoted full-time heroes!" Destiny said on the news later. "Heroing is really what they're all about!"

Tracy was watching the story from Macy's laptop in her room. When she learned that her most hated band in the world was famous, she got very upset. Using only her hands, she ripped Macy's computer in half and let out an angry scream. Macy chose not to comment on this, however.

"It looks like everyone thinks they're real heroes Tracy!"

Tracy stepped into her closet. "Those guys are fakes! And if it takes another fake to prove how fake they are, I'm totes down to outfake them!"

"But how Tracy?"

"Simple! Every hero needs a super-cute supervillain…" Tracy pulled out a costume she previously wore for a Halloween party. "WITH AN EVIL PLAN!"

Meanwhile, in the garage, Jackie was sitting on the stage, feeling bored and lonely. Now that her friends were full-time heroes, she didn't get to spend as much time with them anymore. She glanced at Grojband's instruments, which hadn't been touched for quite a while. She picked up Laney's bass and plucked a few random strings. Then she went over to Kin's keyboard and played a few notes. She sighed sadly and rested her head on the keys. Words couldn't describe how much she missed Grojband.

But then, her hopes returned when she heard the sound of the garage door opening and saw all four of the band members standing outside.

"You're back!" she ran up to them. "I thought you would be gone forever! You told me you would meet me here when you were done heroing!"

"Yeah…See, the problem is, we never had the chance to be done heroing." Corey explained.

"People from all over town kept signaling us to help them with their everyday problems." Laney went on.

"Yeah. Being a superhero is hard." Kin whined. "But at least now we're finished and we can rehearse our song with you."

"Help! Help!" someone called out from a distance.

"Or not." Kon said.

"Sorry Jacks. We gotta take this." Corey informed the manager.

"You mean, you have to leave again?" Jackie frowned.

"We're really sorry Jacks." Laney sympathized. "We'll try to come back as soon as we can."

"Actually Lanes, now that I think about it. We don't have to go." Corey pointed out.

"Yeah!" Kin agreed. "I mean it's not like there's some big emergency going on or anything! Besides, I bet Jackie wants us to stay with her, don't you Jackie?"

Jackie did want her friends to stay. But at the same time, she also didn't want to be the one who made them give up a career that made them famous all across town. So she sighed and said:

"No. It's okay guys. Somebody needs your help. Go ahead and go. I don't mind waiting a little longer."

"Are you sure?" Corey asked.

Jackie nodded sadly.

"Well, okay. See you later Jacks."

"We hope." Laney added.

"Take your time." Jackie waved. "Bye."

The four waved back and they all went on their way. All except Kin. He turned around to make sure Jackie was really okay with them leaving. She was smiling so he figured that was a yes. But as soon as Kin was gone, Jackie's smile faded for she was once again, alone. She picked up the picture frame from the coffee table and looked at it for a while. The picture was of her and Grojband. A single tear streamed down her cheek and it landed on Kin.

"I want my old heroes back…" she whispered.

"Oh don't worry sister!" a shadow appeared over the brunette. "I totes have a feeling you'll be seeing them again very soon! Ha, ha, ha!"

Jackie screamed as she found herself trapped in a bag and taken out of the house.

Grojband was walking toward city hall, where the Justice Band signal was being shined.

"Can these mortals not save themselves?" Kin complained.

"Beat Bot…batteries…low…" Kon fell toward the ground.

"A gig is a gig guys!" Corey reminded them.

"These aren't band gigs Core." Laney reminded him back. "They're hero gigs! Maybe we should just take these masks off."

"Welcome Tranquil Town!"

The front man and bassist looked ahead of them and saw Mayor Swellow bouncing on a trampoline.

"This is gonna be the best mayor's birthday party ever!"

A huge crowd of citizens cheered.

"The mayor's birthday?!" Corey exclaimed. "Guys! If we put on a show for this crowd, the whole town will know how hard we rock! All our heroing is about to pay off!"

The other three teens groaned as Corey ran up to meet the mayor.

"Now join me in giving a great big hand, to those great big heroes, the Justice Band!" the mayor rhymed.

"Hey Mr. Mayor!" Corey greeted. "We'd love to play-"

"Play hero? That's the idea!"

Corey turned around and saw his tired-looking friends.

"Um, we'd love to! But this party needs music more than it needs a bunch of heroes!"

But Corey was proven wrong when everybody heard an evil laugh out of nowhere. A fat man belched and pointed to where the laugh was coming from: the roof of city hall. Standing on top of the building was a girl dressed in a pink supervillain outfit, also known as Jackie's evil older sister, Tracy.

"Hello chumps of Tranquil Town! I am Stiletto! The ultra-beautiful enemy of the Justice Band!" she began. "Listen to me! Those zeroes are not heroes! They may have saved a lot of you dopes from doing really easy things, but there's one task that they failed to complete!"

Corey glared. "Oh really? And what task was that?"

"The task of saving everybody in Tranquil Town, duh! Because while you were out doing the citizens' dirty work for them, I got a hold of the one person you didn't care about helping at all! Your own manager!"

Tracy gestured to a lightning rod on top of city hall where Jackie was tied to.

Grojband gasped. "Jackie!"

Storm clouds started forming over the helpless brown-haired girl and she cringed in nervousness. Kin saw this and he fainted in Kon's arms.

"Justice Band! Save the day!" the mayor ordered with a mouthful of birthday cake. "Show this girl that crime won't pay!"

"Core!" Laney panicked. "This is terrible! Jackie's about to be struck by lightning and there's no way we can save her!"

"I ignored the only girl I love…" Kin stated weakly. "And now she's in grave danger…wake me when the nightmare is over…"

Kon started fanning his brother.

"Look, I know this whole hero thing hasn't worked out." Corey said. "But our manager needs us right now! We're the only ones who can rescue her! We need to get up there! Beat Bot! Launch us with the trampoline!"

"Let's drop this beat!" Kon used two giant mallets to launch Corey, Laney, and Kin onto the roof.

"What? How did you get up here?!" Tracy cried.

"We heroed our way up!" Corey responded.

"You guys!" Jackie smiled excitedly. "You came to save me!"

"Don't get your hopes up you little twerp!" Tracy interrupted. "You and I both know they're fake!"

"Let's get something straight!" Kin faced the teenaged villain. "You can mess with me, you can mess with my band, but nobody…messes with the girl…OF MY DREAMS!"

The scientist sent out a loud noise from his speaker at Tracy.

"Ow!" Tracy covered her ears. "Stop it!"

"I'm coming for you Jacks!" Laney attached the strings of her bass to the lightning rod to create a rope for Jackie to slide down on.

Corey quickly untied Jackie, but before she had the chance to slide down, Tracy pounced on top of her and pushed Corey off of the roof. He grabbed on to the side and did his best to hold on.

"Like, stop being real heroes and junk!" Tracy ordered.

"Tracy! Why are you doing this?!" Jackie broke free.

"To keep your idiot friends from-AAAA!" the black-haired teen didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because lightning struck her, causing her to jump up into the air. Her cape caught onto the now-bent lightning rod, which tilted toward the ground. But Tracy wasn't scared at all.

"Ha, ha! You'll never get to me in time! And everyone will know you're fake! You'll be so humiliated when I splat everywhere!"

"Is she for real right now?" Jackie asked the others.

"Guys! I've got it!" Corey beamed. "If we save Tracy and look like heroes, she'll lose it!"

"And we'll never be able to say we're just a band!" Laney pointed out.

"Wrong! We'll have some sweet diary lyrics to rock out on this rooftop! The perfect way to reveal ourselves in front of all our new fans!"

But the Justice Band's chance to save Tracy was ruined when Tracy's cape ripped and she started falling.

"Yes! I win! You zeroes are too late!"

"Beat Bot!" Corey called to Kon. "The trampoline!"

Kon pushed the trampoline to where Tracy was about to land. She bounced off of it and landed in a nearby trash can. The crowd went wild after seeing this brave act of heroism. Even Macy started clapping.

"What?! No! I'm supposed to go splat!" Tracy wailed.

"You guys! You saved me!" Jackie hugged Corey, Laney, and Kin. "You're my heroes!"

Hearts popped out of Kin and he giggled.

"The Justice Band saves the day again!" Corey declared.

Tracy clenched her fists in anger.

"You…are…not…HEROES!"

Fire surrounded the ex-supervillain causing her costume to burn up. Then she flew up into the air surrounded by garbage. She started writing flames in her diary. Even more storm clouds formed over city hall. When Tracy was finished, she fell back into the trash can. Her diary bounced out of her hands and landed in Corey's.

"Citizens of Tranquil Town!" he said over the mic. "Are you ready for the encore?!"

The band started playing a song.

_When things were getting out of hand_

_You called on us the Justice Band_

_We entered the fray and we saved the day_

_And in the end you gave us a hand_

_But as you stand there and applaud_

_This super awesome hero squad_

_We have one last task to tear off these masks_

_And reveal ourselves as a super fraud_

Corey threw down a smoke bomb and somehow, he and the others changed back into their normal outfits. The audience was shocked.

_Cause we're not heroes_

_We're a band in capes that wants to play for you_

_We must be clear-o_

_The Justice Band is just a band, it's true_

_We fought for right but now the fighting's through_

_So give us a call and listen to our tunes_

A camera started filming the screaming crowd and Destiny entered the scene.

"I'm Destiny Providence! And I just got here! Missed a lot by the looks of it. More at eleven!"

Jackie and Grojband jumped down onto the trampoline and landed safely on the sidewalk.

"Thanks for making my birthday a smash!" Mayor Swellow said. "How would you like to be heroes for cash?"

"Sorry Mr. Mayor. The Justice Band retired as heroes." Corey stated. "But we're available as a band! Provided that we rehearse with our manager first!"  
Jackie giggled.

"No thanks." Vick Salary declined. "Vick Salary's feeling nostalgic for clowns anyway."

"Yes!" a clown in the audience fist-pumped.

"Sorry it didn't work out guys." Jackie told the former heroes.

"That's okay Jacks. Heroes don't need things to work out." a spotlight shined on Corey. "The joy is in doing the job and getting hurt and never having anyone thank you or know your name. And you can't put a value on that."

"I made six hundred dollars off those flashlight signals." Kin interrupted.

"A truly heroic sum! Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**3 chapters until the new story...**

**All of the episode slots are full now which means if you have a request for one, you will have to wait for a little while. See you guys tomorrow! PS: Review!**


	50. Itch Perfect

**Once again, I held off on posting this because I was waiting for more people to review the last chapter. Usually, I wait for at least three people to leave me a review on a previous chapter before I post the next one. Just keep that in mind ;). This one is based off of "Pox n Roll", which was suggested to me by The Mad Hatter. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 50**

**Itch Perfect**

It was the 2nd Tuesday in July. Summer vacation was going by fast. Kin, Kon, and Laney were in the garage staring upon one of the most confusing inventions of all time…the record player.

"So, it spins and music just plays?" Laney recalled.

"Yep!" Kin nodded. "They came before CDs!"

"You mean coasters?" Kon corrected him.

"Then what came before records?" Laney asked.

"Nothing." Kin answered. "I think it was always just records."

Corey was sitting on the stage.

"Guys? Something really weird is going on. Jacks said she would be here to help us rehearse our music, but she isn't here!"

Kin checked his watch and gasped.

"You're right Corey! She said she'd be here at 10:00 and now it's 10:01!"

Laney shrugged. "So she's a minute late. No big deal."

"Laney, Jackie is never late for band practice! Never, ever, ever!" Kin looked at his watch again. "AAAA! Now it's 10:02!"

"Are you for real?"

"What if something happened to her?" Kin worried. "What if her nasty sister locked her in the closet again? What if she got eaten by a sewer monster? What if she's been kidnapped?!"

Laney glanced at Kon. "How many mystery movies did he watch last night?"

Kin screamed and ran for the door. "Jackie! I'm coming for you!"

Laney grabbed Kin by the top of his head.

"I've got a better idea. Why don't we go up to her room and see what's keeping her? Will that make you happy?"

"I guess. If she's there. But what if she's not? What if-mmf!"

Corey covered Kin's mouth to stop his yammering and then the four went upstairs to Jackie's room. Once they were there, Corey went up to the door and reached for the doorknob.

"Okay gang! Let's go!"

"Don't you think we should knock first?" Laney suggested. "We might walk in on her while she's getting dressed and see her-"

"Lanes. Please. We've gotta keep this fic K+, okay? Now c'mon!"

The front man opened the door and the other three followed him into Jackie's room. They all gasped at what they saw. Jackie was still in her nightgown and tucked up in bed. Her entire body was covered in tiny, red bumps, hence why she was scratching herself everywhere.

"Jacks! There you are!" Corey exclaimed. "What are you still doing in bed? You promised to help us practice!"

Jackie shook her head and scratched her left arm. "I'm sorry guys. I can't rehearse with you today. I've got the chicken pox. My mom and dad don't want me spreading it to anyone else, so I have to stay in my room."

Corey rubbed his chin. "Hm…chicken pox, eh?"

"Oh you poor baby!" Kin pushed Kon out of the way so he could get to Jackie. "Is it serious? Are you in any pain? Tell me where it hurts. Are you cold? Do you need another blanket? How about I fluff your pillow for you?"

"Um…" Jackie tried to respond. Kin gave her a glass of water.

"Here, drink this. It'll keep your fluids up. You feel hot. Do you have a fever? Maybe I should get a thermometer. No! That'll take too long! I need to get your fever down now! I know! I'll make you some soup! No! That'll take even longer! Wait! I've got it!" Kin left the room for a minute and returned with a washcloth, soaked with cold water.

"Here. Put this on your forehead. It'll make you feel cooler. Wait! What am I thinking? Let me do it! You don't have the strength to do such a difficult task!"

"Kin…" Jackie mumbled.

"Now don't you worry about a thing Jackie!" Kin squeezed Jackie into a hug. "Kin's gonna make you all better!"

"Kin! Don't!" Laney warned. "The chicken pox are highly-"

A split second later, red bumps appeared all over Kin.

"-contagious…"

Kin gasped. "I've been infected! With the love bug!" he giggled.

Once Kin caught the pox, it wasn't long before Corey, Laney, and Kon caught them as well.

"Oh great!" Laney groaned. "They're already spreading!"

"Guys! I'm itchy!" Kon whined.

All five of them were scratching themselves like crazy.

"Whoa…this…is…awesome!" Corey cried.

"How is this awesome?" Laney retorted. "We've all got the chicken pox! And we can't play gigs if we're all poxed up!"

"That's exactly the kind of thinking keeping us poxers down." Corey replied. "We need to bring awareness to the fact that the pox rocks! We can throw our very own chicken pox party!"

"Core, nobody will come to a party knowing they'll get the chicken pox."

"Yeah, especially not if they're on summer vacation and have no reason to get sick!" Jackie pointed out.

"You're right Jacks. But at the same time, you're wrong. Because most of the kids in our neighborhood are in summer school this year! So if we give them the pox, we'll be doing them a huge favor!" Corey headed for the door. "C'mon guys! Let's start sending out the invitations!"

"But Core, my parents will kill me if they find out I spread chicken pox to every kid in the neighborhood and had a party without their permission!" Jackie worried.

"Relax! Your parents aren't home!" Corey reminded her. "And besides, the author never puts them in the story anyway."

"Hm…you do make a compelling argument." Jackie smiled and followed her friends.

**CHICKEN POX ARE ITCHY!**

Macy was in Tracy's room, reading Tracy a fairy tale.

"And then Prince Rick gave Princess Tracy a kiss. And they lived happily ever after."

"Thanks for the story Mace!" Tracy laid back in her bed. "Time to nap! But first, I want a drink of still water."

Tracy snapped her fingers and Macy gave her a glass of water. Tracy was about to take it from her until…

"POX!" some loud voices chanted, causing the water to shake.

"Macy!" Tracy scolded. "If I wanted rippling water, I would have said so!"

"POX! POX! POX!" the voices continued.

"Ugh! What are those losers chanting?"

The two teenaged girls stepped out of the bedroom and found the door to the garage. Tracy peeked inside the window and saw a huge group of kids covered in red spots. Jackie and Grojband were there too.

"POX! POX! POX! POX! POX! POX! POX!"

"They're saying 'pox'." Tracy came upon a realization. "I've never had the chicken pox! There's no way that plague pile is getting near me! And there's even less way that Jackie's band is gonna make a cool gig out of it! Macy! Hotline phone!"

Macy gave Tracy a telephone and she started dialing Mayor Swellow's number.

Mayor Swellow was enjoying a picnic with his mother in the park. He heard his phone ringing and he quickly answered it.

"Swellow?" he listened to what Tracy had to say. "Spots? Scratching? Say no more!"

The politician hung up his phone and started talking to the picture of his mother.

"It's happening mother! The pox of chicken has come to Tranquil Town! I'm the only thing standing between this city and a raging contagion!" the mayor then tripped over a plate of hot dogs.

Back at the garage, Corey was giving the kids a motivational speech.

"So we're poxed. Are we not human? Do we not bleed when we scratch? The pox aren't the worst and it's time everyone knows it!"

The neighborhood kids were all in a conga line, scratching each other's backs.

"Pox rocks! Pox rocks!" they chanted.

"Um, Core?" Laney interrupted. "Rocking the pox might be easier with you know, some lyrics!"

"C'mon Lanes! Everything is 'swellow'!" Corey insisted. "Why are you always trying to burst our 'bubble'?"

Jackie took note of the quotation marks.

"Why did you emphasize 'swellow' and 'bubble' in a foreshadow-y kind of way?"

"Did I? I thought it was more punny than foreshadow-y."

"Don't quit your day job Core."

Tracy and Macy, meanwhile, were leaving the house.

"It's too bad I won't be able to see the look on Jackie's face when she realizes her diseased party is totally-"

Both girls stopped walking when they ran into a rubbery wall.

"Macy! Why is this air so hard?"

"Tracy? I think we're trapped in a bubble."

And Macy was right because a giant crane had just finished putting an anti-bacterial bubble over the entire house.

Mayor Swellow was outside of the bubble, wearing camouflage and holding his mother's picture.

"This pox house is trouble!" he explained. "And trouble belongs in a bubble!"

"What?!" Tracy gasped. "You're quarantining me too?! But I'm not even sick!"

"But you're still a carrier young lady. Can't have you or anybody else in that house infecting the citizens! So you'll be stuck here for nine days. And nobody is allowed to scratch!" the mayor gestured toward two boxes. One box was filled with hazmat suits and the other had some strange looking oven mitts. "I want you ladies to put on those scary outbreak suits and put those anti-scratch mitts on everyone."

"What?! You can't do this!" Tracy complained.

Swellow smirked. "Then why is it already happening?"

Tracy and Macy knew there was no way out of it, so they did what the mayor said and put on hazmat suits. Then Macy picked up the box of anti-scratch oven mitts and they both entered the garage. Nobody else knew that they were trapped yet.

"Time to cure these nerds Tracy-style!" Tracy said.

Macy proceeded to put anti-scratch mitts on all of the party guests. The mitts locked up as soon as they were on their wrists, so they couldn't remove them. A boy tried to scratch his face using the mitt, but as soon as he did, the mitt zapped him with electricity. Jackie and Grojband gasped as almost all of the kids fell to the floor after being electrocuted.

"What's going on?" Jackie wondered.

"Well, this is a shocking turn of events." Corey joked. The others gave him a disapproving look. "What, too soon?"

"Guess what shrimp?" Tracy told Jackie. "Your sickly soiree is under quarantine for nine days! That means no escape and no scratching!"

"Big deal!" Jackie shrugged. "You might be able to stop us from scratching, but you can't stop us from having fun! My band can still play their instruments! Which I'm going to point at with both hands right now!"

But the minute Jackie pointed to the band's instruments, she knew she had made a mistake. With her hands sticking out, Tracy was able to put anti-scratch mitts on both of them.

"Uh-oh…"

"Macy? Attack!" Tracy pointed to Grojband.

Macy pinned down all four of the band members and stuffed their hands in mitts.

"No!" Jackie cried. "Not you guys too!"

"Aw, too bad!" Tracy pretended to be sad. "Maybe next time you'll actually listen when Mom and Dad tell you to stay in your room! Ha!"

There was a brief pause.

"Now I'm bored." Tracy poked Macy in the stomach. "Calling Swellow was your worst idea ever Macy! Blurt out a better one!"

"Um…you could…" Macy spotted someone she knew. "Talk to hunky Rick Salary!"

Rick was telling the party guests how to lean like him.

"Rick Salary says the secret to a cool lean is not needing anything to lean on." Rick demonstrated by leaning on the air.

Tracy pushed and shoved her way through the crowd so she could get to the popular boy.

"Cool lean Rick!" she complimented. "Oven mitts?"

That's when she noticed that Rick was completely pox-free.

"Hey! Why don't you have the pox?"

"Rick does have the pox. Rick just doesn't do spots."

A couple of pox appeared on Rick's right arm. He aimed his dreamy, blue eyes at them and they disappeared.

"Rick says: later spots."

"How are we gonna rock out now Core?" Laney asked. "Our music makers are all caged up!"

"The party is ruined!" Jackie added.

"You're both right." Corey agreed. "Now I wish I hadn't invited the school party critic."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You invited Party Stanimal?!" Jackie panicked.

Party Stanimal was standing in the corner, taking notes.

"Good party space…check. Original theme…check. Costumes provided." the pox spread all over his body. "Check."

"So what's the big deal?" Corey shrugged.

"Core, don't you remember what happened to the Tanana sisters when their stomach flu themed party failed?" Jackie reminded him.

Corey shuddered. "So much puke…so little guac…"

"Not only that, Party Stanimal gave it his lowest party rating ever! Awesome! Out of a possible ten awesomes!"

"Come on! This isn't that bad!" Corey reassured the brunette.

"A pox party with no scratching?" Party Stanimal noted. "This shindig is sailing for a failing."

"Is it that bad now Core?" Jackie asked.

"Okay! Okay! I get it! But I don't know what to do!"

"We need to find a way to get these oven mitts off!" Jackie looked over at Kin. "Kin! Do you have any idea what can remove these things?"

Kin thought about it. "Well, a chainsaw might work. But the one we have here is broken."

"Well, maybe you and Kon can go downtown and buy another one!" Jackie suggested.

"I guess but…how do we get out of the bubble?"

Jackie pulled Kin close and poked him on the nose.

"You're a smart guy Kin. I have a feeling that whatever you come up with is sure to work."

Kin held a hand to his forehead and fell into Kon's arms.

"Kon? I think I have a fever…because I'm burning with love, baby!"

Kon rolled his eyes and carried him away. "You're delirious dude."

Laney gave Jackie a poke. "Um, Jacks? What are we gonna do until they get back?"

"Well, I guess we should try to take everyone's minds off the pox."

"And how are we supposed to take their minds off the pox without music?"

"Have no fear girls! For I have the solution right here!" Corey pulled out a book. "Daddy-O's Annual Party Manual! 50's edition!"

The blue-haired boy heated a potato up in the microwave.

"Hot potato!" he read. "Hold it till it burns! Pass it on, lesson learned! Lanes, you go first!"

Laney picked up the potato and felt no pain whatsoever.

"The oven mitts kinda take the urgency out of hot potato Core."

"Oh well. It's nothing a game of charades can't fix!"

Corey stood in the middle of the party guests and held out his hand.

"One word." a boy guessed.

It was then Corey realized people couldn't actually see how many fingers he was holding up.

"Two words!" the boy continued. "Three? Four? Five? Six?"

Party Stanimal was unimpressed.

"The only conceivable answer is…super lame Grojband chicken pox partay…"

Laney facepalmed, causing the oven mitt to electrocute her.

**OVEN MITTS ARE OUCHY!**

Kin and Kon had set up a giant ramp in the garage so they could attempt to burst through the bubble on Jackie's bicycle. The two of them were already at the top of the ramp and sitting on the bike (Kon in the seat and Kin in the basket).

"Ready to launch through that bubble, bro?" Kin asked.

Kon put on a pair of safety goggles. "Affirmative!"

"On your mark…get set…AAAA!"

Kon used his foot to push the bike down the ramp and the twins went flying out the garage door. They quickly jumped off the bike and hit the surface of the bubble. But it didn't break. Mayor Swellow had come prepared.

"This is not the first time I've trapped kids in a bubble, boys."

The bubble launched Kin and Kon backward and they hit the garage door.

Meanwhile, Corey, Laney, and Jackie were struggling to distract everyone from the chicken pox.

"Well, setting up a rusty garden tool scratching center didn't work." Corey noted.

A bunch of teens were trying to scratch themselves with rakes and shovels, but it was only making things worse.

"Face it!" Laney remarked. "These prehistoric games just aren't cutting it!"

"My main man is right!" Party Stanimal agreed. "This party is deader than a playful possum. So, my rating has to be double awesome."

"Wow, when did he learn to rhyme like the mayor?" Corey wondered.

"Double awesome?!" Jackie cried. "We're ruined!"

"Maybe we're going about this wrong." Corey tossed his book. "Just because the party can't scratch, doesn't mean we can't! Now where's that turntable?"

While he was thinking, he made the mistake of putting a hand on his chin and got zapped.

And unknown to the three, the turntable was actually being used by Kin and Kon. They were using it to dig a tunnel out of the house. Unfortunately, Mayor Swellow was ready for them because when they finally made it to the surface, he drenched them in hot, boiling wax. The brothers screamed and ducked back into the tunnel.

"Boiling wax." Swellow sighed. "Is there any hole you can't plug?"

Kin and Kon used the turntable to create a hole in the garage floor. Then, they jumped out before the wax could reach them.

"Kin! Kon! What happened?" Jackie exclaimed.

"We almost got turned into wax statues!" Kin said.

"I'd look more surprised but, my eyebrows are gone." Kon lifted up his sweatband, revealing two white spots where his eyebrows used to be.

"Yoink!" Corey took the turntable from Kon. "I'm gonna need this for a little scratch fest. All we need now are some lyrics!"

"And how do you suggest we get them?" Laney asked sarcastically.

"Oh Rick!" Tracy giggled. "You're so good at this leaning thing! What's your secret?"

"Easy. Rick just puts his weight on Rick's elbow, then puts his cool in Rick's chest for balance."

"Like this?" Tracy tried copying him but fell over.

"Nope."

"I got it!" Jackie beamed. "You guys wanna prove that the pox rocks, and I know just the someone who'd love to get poxy…"

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Jackie gathered all of the kids together so she could talk to them all at once.

"I know you're all angry, but let's not forget what this party was for. To show that the pox rocks!"

"So, what do you got for us Pox Pusher?" Party Stanimal replied.

"Spin the bottle!" Jackie held up a bottle.

A loud squeal was heard from the back of the crowd and the next thing Jackie knew, she was pushed out of the way by Tracy.

"Spin the bottle?!" Tracy took the bottle from her younger sister. "I'm in!"

"But you'll get the chicken pox!" Macy warned her.

Tracy shoved her friend away.

"No, I'll get the Rick-in pox! The super-greatest pox ever!" she leaned up against Rick and sighed. Then she realized that everyone else was staring at her. "Listen you flaky-skinned dorks! This game is invite-only and you've all been outvited!"

"Aww…" the teens whined.

Tracy put the bottle on the coffee table and gave it a good spin. The bottle spun around a few times, but then it finally landed on…Tracy. Tracy scowled in frustration.

"Macy!"

Macy used all of her strength to lift up Rick and put him next to the bottle. Then Tracy took off her helmet.

"Lips? It's joy time!" Tracy leaned in, and for the first time ever, so did Rick.

The two were about to kiss until somebody said:

"Hey Rick! Look at me for no reason!"

Rick turned around and gave the kid a thumbs-up.

"Thanks!"

Tracy, however, still had her eyes closed and didn't know that Rick had looked away. So she kissed his ear instead and instantly caught the chicken pox.

"Tracy!" Macy observed. "Rick is all over your skin!"

Tracy was overjoyed.

"Swoon!" she blasted out of her hazmat suit and into the air. She was covered in bumps, but surrounded by hearts. She started writing in her diary, which made hearts fill the anti-bacterial bubble surrounding the house. When Tracy was done writing, she gently floated back down to earth and leaned up against Rick. The diary landed in Corey's hands.

"Yes! Time to scratch this lamefest onto the best party ever list!"

Laney, Kin, and Kon laid down a beat and Corey started rapping.

_We're stuck in this garage, yeah we're locked in_

_My face is getting itchy and I'm shedding my skin_

_But since we're all here and we've got a dope track_

_Wave your hands in the air from the front to the back_

_Even though my head is getting very dizzy_

_I think it's time that we all got busy_

_Let's throw down some rhymes and pull up our socks_

_Let's say it together: Chicken pox rocks!_

_Chicken pox rocks_

_Yo, I don't mind being this sick_

_I'm stuck in this garage, but I'm here with Rick_

_This ain't so bad because this party is rad_

_This may be the best skin condition I've ever had_

_This party scene is under quarantine_

_And I'm keen to screen this lean, mean rap machine_

_This beat is pumping, you know what I mean?_

_So let's party it up until they find a vaccine_

_Yo DJ, scratch it up one time!_

_Chicken pox rocks_

_Chicken pox rocks_

_We're rocking the pox!_

Everyone in the garage cheered for the band and their song. Everyone except Tracy, who was now unhappy that she had caught the pox and even more unhappy knowing she was stuck with her sister and her band until they were all well again.

"So Party Stanimal…" Jackie began. "What do you think?"

"Pox pop and lock!" Stanimal cried. "This party is officially TEN AWESOMES PLUS!"

"Yes!" Jackie fist-pumped.

Pretty soon, all of the parents arrived to take their kids home to be quarantined in their own house for a few days.

"I gotta say." Jackie told Grojband. "With you guys around, even sick days aren't so bad."

"Care to tell us what we've learned today Core?" Laney asked.

"Hm…let me think." Corey gained a spotlight. "I think we've learned that some diseases are more fun to have than not to have. And the best disease? Party fever! Fun to catch, fun to spread, and impossible to stop! All we can do is quarantine ourselves in a party bubble and rock until we're well enough to catch it again!"

"Sounds fun son!" Mayor Swellow popped out of the bushes. "What are you gonna do for the next eight days?"

"Yeah Core!" Laney responded.

"Careful Lanes. The only cure for party fever is a wet blanket! Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

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**2 chapters until the new story...**

**There are no more open slots for episodes right now. Which means from now on if anybody suggests an episode in their reviews, it will have to wait until some time after Chapter 55. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you guys later!**


	51. Tired Out

**Oh my god, guys. I know you've been waiting for this next chapter for a while, but I have to tell you about what happened to me today. So I came home from classes, feeling completely exhausted, so I decided to take a nap for a couple of hours. And when I did, I had the most disturbing dream ever, which I am going to tell you about now (note: if you are extremely sensitive, please skip the next paragraph.)**

**So it shouldn't be a surprise that my dream was about Grojband. After all, I've now written over 50 chapters of a fanfiction that's about them (congrats on 200 reviews, by the way!), so it should be completely normal. Anyway, in the dream, I was playing this sort of Grojband-themed choose-your-own-adventure game online, which I now kind of wish was a real thing, but let's not get sidetracked. I don't remember much of what happened in the beginning of the dream, but let me tell you, the rest was absolute horror. Basically, I got to a point in the game where Corey was on the edge of death (don't remember what caused his death, but I know there was blood) and the other band members had to watch him slowly die. Then things started getting really weird. Somehow, Corey's spirit got corrupted by a monster and he started attacking Kin, Kon, and Laney. The last thing I remember about the dream was the remaining three band members lying on the ground, covered with cuts and bruises. Then the game gave me two options: "Give Up" or "Attack Corey". Neither of those sounded like good options, but I guess the game decided to choose for me, because the next thing I knew, Kin, Kon, and Laney settled on giving up and their eyes closed. Laney was still breathing but Kin and Kon were completely motionless. Seriously, I don't why my brain put me through that torture; it almost made me bawl my eyes out.**

**Anyway, the reason I had to share that with you guys is because I have a feeling it has to do with Grojband (the show)'s ultimate fate. I have heard that dreams can predict the future and have hidden meanings. And I'm worried that this dream is telling me that Grojband has finally come to an end. New episodes, new seasons, new songs, and more depth in Corey and Laney's relationship? All of those things aren't going to happen. As my dream clearly explained to me, Grojband...is dead.**

**At least I hope that's not true and my brain is just tormenting me while I sleep. My brain can be so mean sometimes (stop with the writer's block already!). So yeah, let me know what you guys thought of my creepy dream and keep praying for a second season. Maybe, just maybe if we all stay positive, Todd Kauffman will give us what we've all been hoping for. **

**Okay, I'm done. Here is Chapter 51 which is based on the episode "Smash Up Terby" and was suggested to me by Audrey Nantel. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 51**

**Tired Out**

Jackie and Grojband were in their normal hangout spot (if you don't know where that spot is by now, you clearly haven't been paying attention). Jackie was trying to help Corey write his own lyrics for a song.

"How bout this?" Corey started singing. "Butt crack neighbor! Should have been a plumber! Instead he got a green thumb! Something, something…Bummer! Cue pyro!"

Kin was drinking from a carton of milk. As soon as he heard Corey's terrible lyrics, he burst out laughing, causing the milk to come out of Kon's nose.

"What, no good?" Corey shrugged.

"No." Laney said. "But, a totally lowercase no."

"Swearsies? Cause you know I'm case-sensitive."

"Swearsies. Caps-lock was way off on that no."

Corey smiled. "So you guys liked it then?"

The others sucked in their teeth nervously. Corey's smile turned into a frown and his rock star dreams were crushed.

"Aw man! Why do I stink at writing lyrics?!"

"Core, it's okay." Jackie told him. "Don't let the pressure get to you."

"But the pressure's on!" Laney added. "We take the stage at the carnival derby in an hour! The whole town will be there! Listening!"

"No worries!" Corey packed his guitar in the trunk of Tracy's car. "I'm just a few lyrics shy of the perfect track! The only thing missing is words! So don't worry your pretty little rock-and-roll faces. Nothing's gonna stand in our way!"

The door to the garage door opened and Tracy stepped in.

"Dun, dun, dunnnn!" she sang.

"Better get a bucket of water guys." Jackie informed her friends. "Because the wicked witch is back."

"Oh, you think you're so funny with your little jokes! Well, I'd keep that yapper of yours closed if I were you." Tracy warned. "Now listen up shrimp! If Mom and Dad are making me drive you and your band of twizerppy twerps to the carnival in my car, then they have to follow my rules!"

Tracy pointed at Corey.

"Rule number 1! I don't want to hear any annoying singing. Especially from you Beanie Boy!"

She looked at Kin.

"Rule number 2! My car is for cool people only. But since I have to drive you guys, there will be no role-playing or any other kind of geeky activities. Got that Klutzy Nerd? Rule number 3! If you get any of your disgusting hairs on the seats, you'll have to answer to my fist! That means no shaving in my car Makeup Dude!"

Laney scowled.

"Rule number 4! My car has to smell the best! So keep all of those nasty farts to yourself Big Ball of Lard!" Tracy pointed her finger at Kon. Kon smiled and yanked on it, causing Tracy to fart.

"Finally, rule number 5!" Tracy got into Jackie's face. "If any of these rules are broken on the way, a certain little sister's face is going to be broken as well. Understand?! Now hurry up and get in!"

The five squeezed their way into the backseat. Kin smiled at how close he was to Jackie.

"Hey Jackie. You smell good today. Just like every other day."

"That's actually kind of creepy Kin." Jackie commented.

"Macy! Here! Now!" Tracy shouted into her phone.

"Already here!" Macy zipped into the passenger seat.

"And?"

"Oh, right! I love your hair Tracy!"

"Aww…thanks Mace!"

Tracy pressed a button on the garage door opener and the garage door went up. Kelsey and Alyssa were standing outside.

"Grojband!" they shrieked and got out of the way before Tracy could run them over.

Kelsey pulled out her phone and started texting Alyssa.

"Oh my gosh! We totally almost got run over by Grojband!"

"Like, I know right?!"

"EEEEEEE!"

Tracy got onto the highway and immediately started shouting at everybody else on the road.

"Out of the way loser! Pick a lane already!"

"So if we make it there alive, what are we gonna do for lyrics?" Kin got in Corey's face. "Corey?!"

"Tracy's always got something juicy in her diary just ripe for the plucking! It's gonna be easy peasy lemon-squeezy!"

"Great. Now I want lyrics and lemonade." Kin complained.

"Macy, you aren't going to believe what happened yesterday!" Tracy began.

"What?"

"I was at the mall looking for some new shoes, when I ran into hunky Rick Salary! And do you know what he said to me?"

"What Tracy?"

"'Hey'! He said 'hey'! I think he totally likes me!"

"Oh, I don't doubt that one bit Tracy!"

While the BFFs were talking, Corey peeked over Tracy's shoulder and saw her diary in her purse.

"Kon! You distract Tracy while I get lyrics from her diary!"

"Aww…but she's icky!" Kon whined. "And unlike _your _sister I don't actually like her!"

"C'mon Kon, we need-wait, what did you say about my sister?"

"Oh! Uh, nothing! Don't worry about it! I'm just gonna distract Tracy now."

"Well, he certainly changed his mind quickly." Jackie noted.

"Hey Tracy!" Kon called. "Wanna see me turn my eyelids inside out?"

"Eww!" Tracy gagged. "That thing is talking at me! Macy! What do I do?"

"Um, I think we're supposed to stop, drop and roll or something." Macy recalled.

"That's for when you're drowning stupid!"

With Tracy distracted, Corey was able to grab her diary.

"What do you got Core?" Jackie asked.

Corey flipped through the pages. "Used it…trying to forget it…diarrhea in class…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! For real?" Jackie tore the page out. "Uh, I'm just gonna hold onto this for blackmailing purposes…"

Corey reached the last page. "Aw man! We've used everything in here!"

"Core! We need lyrics now!" Laney panicked.

"Don't worry gal pal! We just need to make Tracy update her diary!" Jackie fist-bumped Laney and looked out the car window. She smiled when she saw someone familiar coming up behind the car.

"Hey Tracy! Isn't that hunky Rick Salary?"

Rick pulled up on his motorcycle. Tracy gasped and pressed her face up against the glass.

"Everyone down!" she pushed Jackie and the band under the seats. Then she glared at Macy. "I said everyone!"

Macy gulped and hid too. Tracy lowered her window and stuck her head out of it.

"Hey hunky Rick Salary!"

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Tracy Matthews." Rick grinned. "You going to the carnival?"

"Why would anyone choose to-"

"Rick Salary loves carnivals."

"Uh, me too! Yes! We're going! Er, I mean, I'm going!"

"We are?" Macy spoke up, then immediately got shoved under the seat by Tracy's foot.

Rick got off of his motorcycle. "Nice. Rick Salary loves carnivals."

A bunch of fangirls came over to Rick's motorcycle and started kissing it. Tracy grabbed Macy by her shirt collar.

"This is it! This is my chance to get hunky Rick Salary to fall in love with me! Don't forget your purse!" Tracy shoved the red-haired girl out of the car.

Jackie and Grojband high-fived each other.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Rick stepped up to the ticket booth.

"One please."

Tracy snatched money out of Macy's purse and gave it to the ticket lady. "Make that three!"

"Thanks T." Rick took the tickets. "Rick Salary will save the other two for later."

Jackie and the gang took their gear out of the trunk.

"Okay guys!" Corey announced. "Operation: Make Tracy look dumb in front of hunky Rick Salary so she writes in her diary so we can steal her words and turn them into wicked lyrics is now in…" he took a big breath. "Play!"

"Catchy title." Laney noted.

"Kin! Kon!" Corey summoned the twins. "Ready to do 'the thing'?"

"Sure, but…" Kin whispered. "I can't do 'the thing' if you-know-who is watching."

"You-know-who?"

Kin pointed to Jackie.

"Oh…right."

"What are you guys talking about?" Jackie joined the conversation.

"Hey Jackie! Look over there!" Corey pointed in the opposite direction. "A sale on stuffed bunnies!"

"Ooh! Where?" Jackie walked off.

"Thanks Corey. Now I'm ready." Kin said.

He and Kon started doing robotic poses.

"Kin and Kon now entering annoying mode…"

The two made beeping noises. A man holding balloons walked by them.

"Ooh…balloons…" the brothers transformed into balloons and floated away on their own farts.

Laney smirked. "Transformation complete."

"Hey guys!" Jackie came back holding a giant stuffed bunny. "What'd I miss?"

"Huh. I could have sworn I made up that whole bunny sale thing." Corey recalled.

**BALLOONS AND BUNNIES YEAH!**

The gang hid behind a bunch of recycling bins so they could spy on Tracy. Kin was looking through a pair of binoculars.

"I've got them in my sights!"

"Uh, Kin? Other way." Jackie informed him.

"Oh." Kin turned around. "Now I've got them in my sights!"

The five hid behind the bins as Rick, Tracy and Macy walked past them. Once the coast was clear, they came back up.

"Okay guys! Time for our Grojband unity chant!" Corey declared. "One…two…three! Go Grojband!"

"We rock!"

"Go get em!"

"Grojband is cool!"

"Dreams are weird!"

The five paused for none of their unity chants sounded the same.

**DREAMS ARE REALLY WEIRD!**

Rick and the girls were getting onto one of the carnival rides. More specifically, a ride that spun really, really fast and almost guaranteed throwing up. The man running the ride pulled a lever and the ride began. But when he wasn't looking, Jackie snuck over and pushed the lever forward.

"One diary update coming up!"

The ride started spinning faster and faster. Everyone on the ride screamed loudly, all except Rick who was just chilling in his seat. Tracy's face turned a sickly green color and then…

**BLARGH!**

Jackie ran away before she was spotted and the man stopped the ride. Everyone who rode it came off covered in Tracy's puke. Tracy was very embarrassed. Rick came off the ride last, but unlike everyone else, he was completely clean.

"Rick Salary knows someone who could use a mint." he poked Tracy's nose. "You."

Tracy growled and reached into her purse. Jackie ran into the bushes where Grojband was hiding.

"She's gonna lose it guys!" she said.

But instead of pulling out her diary, Tracy instead, pulled out a container of mints. She popped one into her mouth and grumbled.

"Uh, do you wanna-" Macy tried to say but Tracy grabbed her tongue and used it to wipe off her mouth.

"Well, she almost lost it." Laney observed.

"Hm…guess we're gonna have to…raise the bar!" Corey joked.

Kin and Kon had somehow managed to get ahold of a giant crane. Kin was reading a set of blueprints while talking to Kon through his walkie-talkie.

"This is Rock God for Music Man. Come in Music Man. Kssh!"

"Go for Rock God! Kssh!" Kon responded.

"No Kon. I'm Rock God. You're Music Man."

"Uh, negative. I am Rock God. Over."

"No Kon! I already told you I get to be Rock God! Over."

"Why? Over."

"Because A. I'm older than you, and B. Jackie thinks I'm better-looking than you are. Over."

"A. You're only older because of that time traveling incident and B. Jackie never said anything like that. She doesn't even love you. Over."

"She does too!" Kin clenched his fist. "Oh forget it. Are you ready to initiate plan B? Over. Kssh!"

"Initiating plan B. Kssh!"

"ROCK GOD OVER!" they both yelled.

Kon used the crane to take apart a roller coaster that Tracy, Macy, and Rick were about to go on. He replaced one of the tamer tracks with a huge hill that went all the way up into outer space.

"It must be lonely up there in the front seat." Tracy said to Rick.

"It's good." Rick replied.

"Do you want me to come up?"

"Rick's good."

The car finally reached the top of the hill and went straight down. Tracy and Macy screamed while Rick just leaned back relaxedly. They were going so fast, that Tracy's cotton candy flew off of its stick and onto Tracy's face. Kon floated up to Tracy in a spacesuit and snapped a picture of her. When the ride was over, Tracy saw the picture on display. She was humiliated once again. Jackie and Grojband hid behind a trash can.

"Get ready guys!" Jackie cried.

"I didn't know you had a beard." Rick told Tracy.

"Um…yes I do!" Tracy played along. "I have a very feminine pink beard…"

"Weird beard." Rick walked off.

Macy offered Tracy a razor.

"Do you want me to-"

Tracy took the razor from her and shaved off part of Macy's hair.

"I don't believe it!" Laney clamored. "What are we gonna do Core? Show's gonna start any minute now!"

Corey stayed calm. "Don't worry, we have loads of time!"

An announcement was made on the loudspeaker.

"Coming up in very little time, Grojband will perform a brand new, totally awesome song with totally new unstolen lyrics that you should listen to very closely."

Corey chuckled nervously while Laney facepalmed.

"Core, this is a total wreck!"

"Wreck huh?" Jackie thought for a minute. "Laney, you've just given me a great idea!"

The band began setting things up for Jackie's plan. Corey adjusted a microphone while Kin and Kon connected it to the loudspeakers.

"Nice job guys!" Jackie complimented her pals. "I just know this is going to work! After all, there's only one thing Tracy loves as much as Rick Salary!"

Corey talked into the mic.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Get your motor running for Tranquil Town's first ever smash up derby! Featuring a very special, last-minute entry from Tracy Matthews!"

Kin and Kon had just finished sprucing up Tracy's car. Kin spray-painted a number four on the side.

"My car!" Tracy turned red.

"Uh-oh…" Macy stepped away, as well as Kin and Kon.

A swirl of dust surrounded Tracy.

"Yes! It's diary time for sure!" Jackie anticipated.

But just as Tracy was about to blast off, she heard a voice.

"Hey, hey Tracy!" Rick said. "You're in the derby too?"

Tracy smiled and immediately put on a pink helmet to match her pink car.

"Uh, yeah! Of course! I love terbies!"

"Derbies." Rick corrected her.

"Yeah whatever. Let's go smash our cars into each other and ruin them cause it's fun and makes sense!"

"Rick says yes."

"I thought for sure that would work." Jackie was disappointed.

"Wow Jacks." Laney stated. "Your sister is totally freak-proof today."

"Looks like we have no choice!" Corey looked over at the twins.

"Let's get smashing…" Kin and Kon rubbed their hands together and chuckled evilly.

All of the cars lined up for the derby. Corey spoke into the mic.

"Ladies and gentlemen? Let's wreck stuff!"

"Yeah!" the audience cried.

"No!" Tracy shouted.

"And a special bonus to anyone who takes out car number four!"

"Boo!" Tracy tried scrubbing the number off her car but it wouldn't come off.

Jackie fired a fake gun and the derby started. Tracy slammed her foot on the gas pedal and took off. The other cars started chasing her.

"Who's gonna take out car number four?" Corey asked as a bunch of cars ran into Rick's car and crashed. "Not those guys!"

Tracy looked over at Rick and smiled. She imagined him as a knight in shining armor, riding on a unicorn and trying to save a princess. That princess, of course, was her.

"We're completely not losing together Rick!" Tracy giggled.

The two of them proceeded to knock out all of the other drivers until they were the only two cars left.

"What a great date! Isn't it romantic Rick?"

"We're down to two cars!" Corey informed the audience. "Who will win…the final…death…ROUND?!"

"Final death round?" Tracy gasped. "Rick?"

"Sorry Tracy Matthews. Rick Salary's got a race to win. Catch you on the flip flop." Rick drove away, accidentally splatting mud all over Tracy and her car.

Tracy was very angry. So angry that the mud she was covered in turned hard and broke into a million pieces. Dust swirled around Tracy's car and storm clouds formed in the sky.

"We have liftoff!" Corey said.

"Bout time!" Jackie added.

"Grr…" Tracy blasted out of her car surrounded by traffic cones and tires. She grabbed her diary and pen and began writing in it. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed over the carnival. When Tracy finished, she landed back in her car. The diary landed next to her. Corey reached into the glove compartment and stole it.

"It's show time!"

Kon counted the band in and they started playing.

_Tire tracks (tire tracks)_

_You drove em straight through my heart_

_In your hot, hot, hot, hurt cart_

_That's what I'm calling your car now _

_Side swipe! (side swipe!)_

Tracy and Rick started driving around each other, trying to get the other knocked out. All the while, Kelsey and Alyssa were selling Grojband t-shirts to the audience.

_I just wanted some time to chill_

_But you sprayed mud all up in my grill_

_Teenage angst (fast lane!)_

_No thanks_

_I-I-I'm way too yes for second best_

_I stop and see, don't see_

_Don't care_

_Kiss my derriere_

_Or call me!_

Tracy and Rick charged for each other's cars, but before they could hit each other, both of their gas tanks ran out and their cars came to a stop. Their engines slightly touched each other, causing a heart-shaped smoke cloud to come out of both of them. The crowd was speechless for a moment but then they burst into applause.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

"Hey Jackie!" Alyssa ran up to the group with Kelsey. She was holding a briefcase full of money. "Check out all the money we made selling unauthorized, overpriced Grojband merchandise!"

Jackie was impressed. "Wow! Nice job girls!"

"Hey, hey! That's a lot of dough-re for me!" Corey exclaimed.

"I don't think so Beanie Boy!" Tracy snatched the money from Alyssa. "This should totally cover my car's repairs. With enough left over for a proper date with my new boyfriend, hunky Rick Salary!"

That's when Tracy heard screaming from behind her. She turned around and saw a bunch of teenage girls carrying Rick on his scooter.

"I'm Rick Salary." he winked.

Tracy climbed on Macy's shoulders.

"Macy! Follow that hunk! Hurry up!"

Macy carried Tracy away.

"So Corey, do you have any inspiration to write your own lyrics after this?" Jackie asked.

"Nope. Nothing's really jumping out at me." a spotlight shined on Corey. "The way I see it, we're just waiting on a moment. Our moment. It might not come wrapped in a bow or on a gust of wind, but someday, we'll get what passion brings. Until then, I stand beside you. As one."

"Core!" Laney interrupted. "Those would have made some killer lyrics!"

"And maybe one day, I'll figure out how to write some lyrics all on my own." Corey patted Laney's cheek. "Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**1 chapter until the new story...**

**I've already started writing the first part of the multi-part story. Be patient! We're almost there...see you guys next time!**


	52. Storm-Hearted

**I struggled a bit with this one, so I hope it's good enough for all of you. This chapter is based on the episode "A-Capella-Lips Now", suggested to me by AA.**

* * *

**Chapter 52**

**Storm-Hearted**

"With mega-storm, Bill Junior preparing to terrorize Tranquil Town, Mayor Swellow is acting tough!" Destiny Providence said on the news.

Grojband and Jackie were sitting on the couch in their garage, watching the report on TV. Lightning struck and thunder boomed from outside.

"Real tough!" Buster Newsworthy continued. "Tough as a nine-cent steak!"

The news cut over to Mayor Swellow.

"Town up Tranquilians!" he ordered. "If you're afraid of a few rain drops, move to Coward Town!"

Laney turned off the TV and picked up the poster promoting Grojband's gig that day.

"Well, looks like our outdoor gig is cancelled."

Corey took the poster from her. "Look closer Lanes. It says with every purchase from Outdoor Billy's, free admission to Grojband's show at High Ground Park. Rain or shine!"

"I got my free ticket when I bought this raft!" Kon inflated an orange raft, which crushed him immediately.

Jackie giggled. "Kon, you always get in for free because you're in the band, silly!"

**MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PERKS!**

Tracy was in her room, using her laptop. Since Rick Salary had gotten a new blog, she had been watching it constantly.

"Rick just updated his status to: Rick Salary is inhaling!" Tracy informed Macy. "Now exhaling!"

Macy nodded. "Yeah, he's great at keeping a steady rhythm."

"Like, I know right?" Tracy gasped. "Ooh! Inhaling again!"

"Well Tracy, the internet also lets us watch cute baby videos! I like their laugh!"

"Ewww! I hate babies!" Tracy gagged. "They're nothing but needy, noisy, slime piles! Like when my sister was a baby!"

Then suddenly, lightning struck the Matthews' residence and the power went out. Tracy's laptop shut off completely.

"Gasp! Look what you did Macy! The internet is like, totally outernet! Now I'll never know if Rick is still breathing! This couldn't get worse!"

Kon, meanwhile, was still trapped under the raft.

"Help! I can't see! I'm raft blind!"

Kin removed the raft from his brother's face.

"Phew…"

"There's no such thing as raft blindness." Kin told him. "It's called a power failure."

"Aww, Kin that was so sweet!" Jackie said.

"What?"

"The way you helped out your brother by taking that raft off his face and reassuring him he had nothing to worry about."

Kin blushed. "R-really?"

"Uh-huh! I think it's cute when older siblings look out for their younger siblings. It shows just how kind and caring they are. And I love guys who are kind and caring."

"Y-y-you do?"

"Sure. In fact, I think Kon is very lucky to have a brother like you. I wish I had an older sibling who kept me safe and actually cared about me."

Kin smiled big and he hugged Kon tightly.

"Uh, yep! That's right! I just love my baby brother! I love him sooo much!"

"Baby brother?!" Kon was offended.

Kin pinched Kon's cheeks.

"That's right! And I promise nothing bad will ever happen to you as long as I'm around!"

"Kin! Stop that! Put me down!"

"Aww…c'mere you little rascal!"

"Hello?" Laney snapped her fingers. "Can we please focus on this power outage right now? Rain or shine is one thing Core, but we need power to play our instruments!"

"All we need is the power inside us!" Corey insisted. "We're gonna strip things down to the bare essentials!"

Kon pushed Kin off of him.

"We're going to play naked?!"

"Uh…no. What I mean is, we're going unplugged."

"Oh yeah. I knew that."

The thunder boomed loudly.

"Eek!" Kon got scared and jumped into Kin's arms.

Kin noticed Jackie was watching, so he patted his twin on the back.

"There, there bro. It's just a little thunder and lightning. Nothing to be scared of."

"Scared? I'm not scared!" Kon heard the thunder again and shook with fear.

Just then, Tracy and Macy entered.

"I'm just saying, maybe it's not a super great time for a drive." Macy said.

Tracy got into her car and started charging her laptop battery.

"What with the torrential downpour and all." Macy continued.

Tracy crossed her arms. "Maybe open the garage door without talking Macy. Maybe that!"

Macy did as she was told and opened the garage door. Unfortunately as soon as she did, the entire place filled with rainwater and everyone in the garage was flushed outside.

As it turns out, the storm had flooded the entire town. The rainwater had risen so high, that Jackie and Grojband had to sit on the roof of their house. The good news was that the storm was pretty much over so the water levels couldn't get any higher.

Tracy and her car floated to the surface and Macy hopped into the passenger seat.

"Tracy! Are you okay?"

"No! Why would I be okay when Rick is missing?! He may need mouth-to-mouth! And my mouth needs to get there before someone else's does!"

"He'll probably head for High Ground Park." Macy guessed. "Just because it's high ground."

"Then what are you waiting for Macy?! Paddle us to High Ground Park! I'll steer."

Macy jumped out of the car and started pushing it.

"Hey Tracy!" Jackie called from the roof. "Can we get a ride?"

Tracy purposely honked her horn.

"Sorry! I can't hear you over my totally loud horn!"

Kon shivered from being wet. Kin immediately began drying his hair off with a towel.

"Dude! What are you doing?"

"Drying you off of course! The last thing I want is for my baby brother to catch a cold."

"I'm…not…A BABY!"

Kin whispered to Jackie. "He's always cranky before his nap."

"Core! This is a total disaster!" Laney cried. "I don't think anyone's gonna show up to the gig now."

"Don't panic Tranquil Town!"

Jackie and the others looked down and saw Mayor Swellow floating in a raft and talking into a megaphone.

"Just head to Outdoor Billy's and get yourself a raft and a free ticket to Grojband's show at High Ground Park! Gonna be a whole mess of fun! And attendance is mandatory!"

"Hey! That must mean our show is sold out!" Corey claimed. "And our lyric machine is already headed to High Ground Park!"

"This water ain't going nowhere!" the mayor took out a box full of jars of applesauce and dumped them in the water. "So stay calm and let some emergency applesauce float your way!"

**APPLESAUCE TRANSITION!**

Meanwhile, at Play Pen Max Security Daycare, a certain group of delinquent babies were making their escape.

"I told em they couldn't build a play pen that could hold Junior Junior!" Junior Junior said as he and the other babies crawled onto the roof of the building. "C'mon guys! Let's baby up to some fool and hitch a ride to High Ground Playground! We can take over the joint and nap anytime we want!"

"Can I bwing my bwankie?" a baby girl asked.

"Course you can! I'm not a tyrant!"

The babies then heard the sound of a car horn.

"Our ride's here!" Junior Junior jumped off of the roof and into the water.

Macy was still pushing Tracy's car to High Ground Park.

"Hurry up! Rick could be turning totally blue or something!" Tracy worried. "Seriously Macy, you can be so selfish!"

Macy just sighed.

"Hey old lady! Baby wanna go on the slide!"

The red-head looked up and saw Junior Junior sitting on the trunk of Tracy's car.

"Okay, sure. We're going to High Ground Park." Macy told him. "But keep it quiet! Tracy doesn't like helping babies. Or anyone."

"Thanks lady! Can my fwiends hitch a ride too?"

Macy looked behind her and saw Junior Junior's crew giving her bambi eyes.

Jackie and Grojband were on their way to High Ground Park too. Corey was using a hockey stick to row the raft.

"Wow, this is really nice." Jackie noted. "And so relaxing."

"Yeah. But we're moving soooo slow." Kon whined. "Hey! I got an idea! I'll go by Outdoor Billy's and buy a motor! That'll make this thing go way faster! I might even get a free ticket for our show!"

Kon was about to jump off the raft but Kin stopped him.

"Oh no you don't mister!" he scolded. "You're not going anywhere! You could get lost if you go out there all by yourself! Right Jackie?"

"Uh…" Jackie didn't know what to say.

"Dude! Why do you keep fussing over me?" Kon demanded. "I can take care of myself!"

Kin pulled him aside and talked quietly.

"Weren't you listening before? Jackie likes guys who look out for their baby brothers."

"I'M NOT A BABY!" Kon screamed.

"Shh!" Kin covered Kon's mouth and gave Jackie a nervous smile. When Jackie looked away, he went back to Kon.

"Look, this could be my chance to make Jackie fall in love with me! So I need you to go along with it for just a little bit longer! Now hold still while I wipe that stain off your shirt."

"THAT'S IT!" Kon dove into the water and swam away from the raft.

"Kon! Where are you going?" Jackie shouted.

"Away from here!" Kon called back. "If Kin is gonna keep treating me like a baby, fine! I'll be a baby!"

As the drummer swam away, Jackie, Corey, and Laney gave Kin a glare.

"What?" Kin shrugged. "It was just a little syrup stain. He's had it since breakfast this morning and he never bothered to clean it."

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Finally, after a long swim, Tracy and Macy reached High Ground Park.

"Hm…let's see…" Tracy began to think. "If I was Rick Salary, where would I be? Ugh! What a stupid question! I'd be looking for me, of course!"

That's when the teenager heard tiny fits of laughter coming from outside. She looked out the car window and saw Macy taking Junior Junior and his crew out of her trunk.

"Did you help those babies?" Tracy scowled.

"They were floating in the water!" Macy defended herself. "Please don't be mad at me."

"You shouldn't tell people what to do! It's an unflattering quality Macy! Get rid of them!"

Macy noticed some shark fins in the water.

"Um, I can't really send them back."

"Well I don't want them! They stink!"

"Suits me fine!" Junior Junior said. "C'mon gang! Let's turn that playground into a nap time kingdom!"

This was enough to give Tracy a wicked idea.

"Or better yet, how bout you stink buckets turn that playground into my Rick-time queendom?"

Junior Junior glared. "And what makes you think we'll do anything for you?"

Tracy just smiled and snatched Junior Junior's nose off of his face.

"Got your nose!"

"Hey! Give it back!" Junior begged.

"You want it back? Too bad! Now shut up and listen! I'm your new leader! A leader with a hundred rules and a grajillion punishments!"

The teen let out an evil laugh and it wasn't long before the babies started constructing her queendom.

Back with Jackie and the others, Jackie was scolding Kin for what he did.

"I can't believe you Kin! Without Kon, the gig is totally ruined!"

"I'm sorry Jackie." Kin felt guilty. "I was just trying to help Kon out and be a good brother."

"By treating him like he's two? If you ask me Kin, an older brother who makes his younger brother feel bad, isn't a very good brother at all."

Kin's eyes filled with tears.

"Hey guys!" Corey pointed ahead. "Look! High Ground Park! We made it!"

The leader rowed the raft to shore and the four friends hopped out. The first thing they saw was Junior Junior's crew carrying logs to build Tracy's throne.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" Jackie wondered.

"You guys came here too?" a voice said below the manager.

Jackie looked down and smiled.

"Hey! Junior Junior! Shouldn't you be in Play Pen Daycare?"

"I'd rather be taken back there! That nutty sister of yours has my nose! And my crew! She's got us prepping her queendom while she waits for King Rick or something."

Jackie noticed one of the babies shining shoes.

"What's that kid doing?"

"Building a shoe store." Junior explained. "Since Queen Tracy can't wait for the one in town to open. She's also making us build her a place to get her hair did, high-speed phone networks, and a jail."

"For what? Fashion crimes?" Corey remarked.

"Yep! And stinking. That'll get you in the hole."

"But your crew were the toughest tykes in town!" Jackie pointed out. "Why listen to her?"

"She's got my nose sweet stuff. She owns me until I can get it back. She keeps everyone else in line with TV." Junior gestured to a group of kids watching the Bubble Bunch Band on Tracy's laptop.

Jackie then spotted her sister sitting on a throne attached to one end of a seesaw. Macy was holding down the other end to make Tracy's end go up. The selfish black-haired girl was using a tin can telephone to communicate with the toddlers.

"I don't care how tall the trees are!" she yelled. "If you climb them, you'll be able to spot Rick! Now climb! Ugh, Macy? Get me one of these that can text. I don't wanna hear their squeaks anymore."

"Tracy! What are you doing?" Jackie asked.

"You will address me as Your Highness!"

"Right…" Jackie pulled out her phone. "I'll update your contact info. In the meantime, you might wanna stop bossing babies around. It's kinda creepy."

"Never! Babies need a queen! And my queendom will be ready and awesome when Rick finds me in it!"

"Well, could you do us all a favor and move Toddler Town somewhere else? My band's got a sold-out show to play and their fans will be here any minute."

Tracy clapped her hands twice, signaling to Macy to lower her throne to Jackie's level.

"Oh, they won't be playing a show today, tomorrow, or any time in the near future! Because I know for a fact, you're missing the biggest and totes most important member of your lame band!"

Jackie and the remaining three band members heard loud stomping coming towards them.

"Jackie? Grossband? I'd like you to meet my new bodyguard…the Crib Crusher!"

Jackie and Grojband were shocked when they got a look at Tracy's bodyguard, because they recognized him right away.

"Kon?!" Jackie went. "But-but-how? And-and-why?"

"He wanted to join our crew." Junior Junior explained. "Said his brother kept babying him. So I figured if someone can get treated like a baby, they can be one!"

Kon was wearing a giant diaper, holding a rattle, and sucking on a pacifier. He took the pacifier out of his mouth so he could talk.

"Did you miss me 'big' brother?"

"Dude! What are you doing dressed like that?" Kin exclaimed.

"What? I thought all babies had to wear diapers and carry rattles. Or is that too mainstream for you?"

"But Kon, why would you want to be a baby and work for Tracy?" Jackie questioned.

"It's like I said before Jacks. If Kin wants me to be a baby, then a baby I shall be! So I asked Junior Junior if he would let me into his crew. He said I could if I was willing to work for the enemy. But I figured it's better than living with a twin brother who is only older because of some dumb time traveling episode, but still likes to think he's the boss of me and acts like I can't take care of myself just so he can impress someone who isn't even into him!" Kon clenched his fist, causing his rattle to break.

Jackie, Laney, and Corey glared at Kin.

"Okay, okay. So I went a little overboard, big deal." Kin shrugged. "Look, we've got a show to do pretty soon and we need you to play with us."

"Sorry Kin. But babies aren't allowed to play the drums. Unless they're toys!" Kon pulled out a toy drum and played with it.

Tracy snickered. "Aww…what a shame! Guess you'll have to tell your fans that your bogus gig is cancelled! Power wasn't the only thing that failed today!"

"Great. We've got a show to do any minute, we have no lyrics, our drummer is working for the enemy, and there's a pile of babies standing in our way!" Laney recapped.

"Wait! I've got an idea!" Corey cried. "If Tracy hates everything about babies, then we gotta turn those babies into a noisy, sticky mob that actually need their queen! Good thing babies can't resist applesauce!"

"Good plan." Laney commented. "But what about Kon?"

"Getting Kon back will be easy Laney." Jackie gestured toward Kin. "I think an apology is in order."

Kin rubbed his neck nervously.

Corey took a jar of applesauce to Junior Junior and explained the plan to him.

"And I can get my nose back? And my crew?"

"Guaranteed!" Corey paused. "Well, there is a small chance Tracy gets to her car and runs everyone over…"

"Better that than live like this! I'll be ready!"

Corey whistled to Laney. She gave him a thumbs-up, opened two jars of applesauce and rolled them to a group of babies.

"Sauce!" the babies cheered.

Junior Junior dumped another jar on top of Macy's head. One of the babies tackled her, causing her to let go of the seesaw. Tracy and her throne fell to the ground. Tracy was mesmerized when she saw the toddlers covered in applesauce.

"What?!"

Laney opened up the hood to Tracy's car and removed the battery. This made her laptop shut off. When the babies saw that the Bubble Bunch Band was gone, they were angry. It was then Tracy knew she was in trouble, for the babies charged at her and pinned her down.

"Macy! Silence them!" Tracy begged.

But the babies had gotten ahold of Macy too.

"Save yourself!" Macy wailed as two babies licked the applesauce out of her hair.

"Ugh! Like, where's my bodyguard?!"

Kon was still playing with his toy drums.

"Hey! This is fun! I had no idea baby toys could be so stimulating!"

Kin came up to his brother.

"Kon! Listen, there's something I need to tell you."

"Hey Kin! Turns out being a baby isn't so bad after all! You get to play with cool toys, eat applesauce, and go to the bathroom without having to get up!"

"Yeah, that's great. I-"

Kon hugged his twin. "In fact, you can treat me like a baby all you want! I don't even care anymore! You can spoon-feed me all of my meals, burp me, and change my diapers! Then maybe Jackie will see how good you are at being a brother and finally fall in love with you!"

"Really?" Kin gained hearts in his eyes but then looked back at Jackie, who was watching them with her arms crossed. He sighed. "Kon? As much as I want to impress the girl of my dreams, I don't want to do it like this. I want my old brother back. The one who loved to play real drums and eat cheese with me. The one who sometimes brought me down but still loved me. The one Corey, Laney, Jackie, and I can't live without. But thanks to me, you've become this. And…I'm sorry. I promise if you quit being a baby, I'll never treat you like one again."

Kon was speechless. He began to think about what Kin said.

"…So?" Kin said. "Do you forgive me?"

"Babies don't know how to forgive Kin."

Kin frowned and hung his head.

"Good thing I'm not a baby." Kon removed his diaper and hugged his brother tightly. Kin squirmed.

"Uh, Kon? Do you think you could hug me later? You know, when you actually have your pants back on?"

"Oh yeah. Forgot about that."

Tracy, meanwhile, was still being pinned down by Junior Junior's crew.

"Yo Queenie!" Junior Junior called from the inside of a hole. "Over here for safety!"

Tracy used all of her strength to push the babies off of her and joined Junior Junior in the hole.

"Thanks!" she acknowledged. "Now go find your own hole!"

"Sure. Right after you give me my nose back!"

Junior Junior laughed creepily as he moved his applesauce-covered hands toward his former queen.

"What are you doing?! Get away!" Tracy demanded. "Did you hear me? I said get those stinky, sticky paws out of my face!"

Tracy blasted out of the hole surrounded by a jar of applesauce, a telephone can, and a raft. Her diary and pen floated into her hands and she began writing angry flames. Fire came out of the applesauce jars and Grojband's raft. When Tracy finished writing, she fell back into the hole. Junior Junior's nose landed back on his face and the diary landed in Corey's hands.

"Got it! And just in time too!"

Mayor Swellow was leading the citizens over to the playground.

"That's it folks! Right this way! Single file to see Grojband play!"

"Let's rock!" Corey shouted into a microphone.

"With what?" Laney whispered. "We don't have our instruments with us!"

"Improvise!"

Kon took out his toy drums. "I knew these things would come in handy!"

As Kon started playing, Corey started singing.

_Corey: Rain is falling so gather round_

_We've got no reason to carry a frown_

_We're trapped in the best party in town_

_And we ain't gonna drown_

_Oh!_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: Stuck on the island_

_Corey: Stick the island in you_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: Stuck on the island_

_Corey: Stick the island in you_

_Cloud in the sky_

_Don't start to cry_

_I've got something for you to try_

_Curl your lips right up to your eyes_

_And you're gonna stay dry_

_Oh!_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: Stuck on the island_

_Corey: Stick the island in you_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: Stuck on the island_

"Grr…" Tracy growled as she climbed her way out of the hole she was still trapped in. Unfortunately for her, one of the telephone cans was hanging down the edge of the hole and it blasted Grojband's music into Tracy's ear, causing her to fall.

_Laney/Kin/Kon: Stuck on the island_

_Corey: Stick the island in you_

_Laney/Kin/Kon: Stuck on the island_

_Corey: Stick the island in you_

As the crowd cheered, Tracy finally climbed out of the hole. She looked up and saw Rick standing next to her.

"Rick Salary thinks this show was worth the violent seasickness."

The teenaged hunk tossed a bag full of vomit and it landed on Tracy.

"Eww!" she gagged.

Junior Junior and his gang piled into Tracy's car.

"Thanks for helping me get my crew and nose back." Junior told Jackie. "We're gonna take off and watch cartoons while we poop in our diapers."

The young toddler stepped on the gas pedal and drove off.

"Shouldn't we stop those babies from stealing a car?" Laney asked.

"Nah. If they know how to talk, they should know how to drive." Kin claimed.

"You said it big bro!" Kon wrapped an arm around Kin.

"By the way Kin, I'm proud of you for what you did earlier." Jackie said.

"Really? Wait, what'd I do?"

"You thought of your brother first by giving up what you wanted, whatever it is you wanted, just to make him happy. That is, in my book, the best way to be an older sibling."

Kin gasped and hearts surrounded him. He pushed Kon out of the way and stared at his manager lovingly.

"Oh Jackie, you say the nicest things…"

Kon sat up from the fall and Corey and Laney helped him up.

"Ouch. Kicked to the curve again." Corey noted.

"Sorry the attention didn't last Kon." Laney added.

Kon shrugged. "It's fine. Being ignored is better than being treated like a baby. Besides, I'm sure this constant abandonment won't last forever."

Mayor Swellow joined the group.

"You kids ready for the encore? Cause the power ain't coming back anytime soon!"

"Not today Mayor Swellow." Corey gained a spotlight. "Maybe it's good the power stays off. Sure it keeps people in line and it's fun to abuse! But too much power can cloud your judgment and the next thing you know, you've been thrown in a hole for tearing noses off babies! And that's never a good thing. Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**0 chapters until the new story...**

**Well, we did it. 10 more episode chapters are done, which means...it's time...the next chapter will be the first part of the multi-part story. I will try to get it done this weekend, but I can't promise it will be out tomorrow. Oh, and for those of you who are eager to find out what exactly this next story is about, I've included little hints in all 10 of the episode chapters. The hints are sentences that almost share the same words and these sentences are referencing something popular. Don't worry, if you don't end up finding them, I'll let everyone know in the author's notes. Until next time...**


	53. Nightmare at Freddy's Part 1

**The day has finally come...are you ready? It's time to unveil the new multi-part story...which is based on one of the scariest and quite frankly, most popular horror game of all time...Five Nights at Freddy's. Since you guys gave me 10 episodes, I'm prepared to give you this in return. You wanted it. It's finally here...**

**And since nobody was able to figure out the hint I gave everyone, here is the answer:**

**The hint was the text written in the author's notes at the end of all 10 of the previous episode chapters: (number) chapters until the new story. This text is actually a reference to a text in the fourth installment of FNAF (# days until the party). So yeah, sorry if that was a hard clue. **

**But before we get started, I have to tell you guys about another freaky Grojband-related dream I had (don't worry, there's no blood or death in this one). I know what you're thinking: corneyforever, we've been waiting for this story for so long, why do you have to waste our time with your stupid dreams? First of all, this one isn't that long so I doubt I'm wasting that much time. Secondly, you can skip the author's notes if you want to or just read the chapter now and come back to them later. Just saying. **

**Anyway, in this dream, I was watching a spin-off of Grojband called "History Grojband" (I think that's what it was called; weird title I know), which was basically about what the characters of the show would be like in the future. Frankly, I don't know why the show had the name "Grojband" in it because there wasn't a band in it at all. And let me just say, if this show really existed, the creators would have gotten almost everything wrong about the characters. First of all, Corey and Laney's clothes and attitudes were enough to make me bang my head against the wall. Corey practically acted like a rich gentleman and Laney was super-girly and always wore dresses. Not to mention, she wasn't even in love with Corey! But the weirdest part was that the main villain of the show wasn't Trina; it was Mayor Mellow, who for some reason transformed into a robot. Kin and Kon were robots too and they were working with Mayor Mellow to help him destroy Corey and Laney. That's right. Kin and Kon were working for the bad guy. Seriously brain? What is wrong with you? Trina was in the show too except she was no longer Corey's sister. She just acted like a bully to Corey and Laney. The only things that were the same was that Mina was still Trina's slave and Trina still had a crush on Nick Mallory. **

**Gee Kon, I guess you were right when you said that "dreams are weird". Anyway, let me know what you guys thought about my dream in your reviews. And now...the moment you've all been waiting for...the first part of Nightmare at Freddy's...begins now...(disclaimer: I don't own any songs used in any parts of this story)**

* * *

**Chapter 53**

**Nightmare at Freddy's Part 1**

It was a dark and stormy Sunday night in Tranquil Town. Rain was pouring down on every street and corner. Lightning struck and thunder boomed every so often. The citizens had boarded themselves up inside their houses in attempt to avoid the dreaded storm. Despite the terrible weather, none of the townspeople were upset. In fact, most of them were quite happy actually. Some were sitting cozily near a roaring fire. Others were playing board games by candlelight. And some were just enjoying spending time with their loved ones. However, on this particular night, there was one citizen who was not happy. Mainly because she was all alone and had nobody to spend time with. Some know her as the "brunette-next-door". Others call her "the one with the demon sister". But most know her as…Jackie Matthews, manager of Grojband.

Jackie was sitting on the bed in her room, which was completely dark, considering the storm had caused a huge power failure at her house. The young teen looked out the window and watched the rain fall. She clutched the picture frame she was holding to her chest and tears began to stream down her face. She looked at the photo, wiping some tears away. The picture was of her and her dearest, closest friends.

"I'm so sorry…" Jackie whispered. "This is all my fault…"

Then the girl rested her head against her arms and cried heavily. Lightning struck and revealed four familiar items sitting on Jackie's bed: an orange skull beanie, a hair clip, a pair of glasses, and a red sweatband. These things were all that was left of Jackie's best friends and band, Grojband. And while you're reading the beginning of this long awaited multi-part story, you may be asking yourself just what exactly brought upon this horrific scene? Well, as the narrator, I'm prepared to tell you everything. So listen closely…if you dare.

It all started Friday morning, the day before the tragic event took place. Jackie was helping her friends practice their music, like she always does.

Corey strummed one more chord and ended the song. Jackie stood up and clapped.

"Nice work guys! I don't think you could sound any better!"

"Well, that'd be saying something Jacks." Corey bragged. "I sound good no matter what!"

"Uh, Core? She was talking to me." Laney corrected him.

"No way!" Kon argued. "You wouldn't be able to play anything if it wasn't for me!"

"Guys! Guys!" Kin interrupted. "You don't have to fight. You're all the best! That is, the best at being second-best to my keyboard skills! Right Jackie?"

Jackie giggled. "Your keyboard skills are amazing Kin, but I think you all sounded incredible! In fact, you guys deserve a break. Let's take five and get some juice boxes from the kitchen. My mom got the variety pack with all of our favorite flavors!"

"Yay!" Grojband cheered.

The five of them left the garage and headed for the kitchen. Jackie opened the fridge and took out five juice boxes, each one a different flavor. Then they all sat down and sipped them.

"These things taste so great!" Kon commented. "We never had juice this good back in our world!"

"Well, let's finish these fruity fluids fast so we can get back to practicing, guys!" Corey said. "We gotta make sure we're ready for our next gig!"

"And what exactly is our next gig Core?" Laney questioned. "And more importantly, how are we going to get lyrics for said gig?"

Corey patted Laney's cheek, making her blush.

"Cool out dude! It's summer! There's practically gigs on every corner! And once we find one, we'll score some lyrics from Tracy!" Corey paused. "Huh, speaking of which, I wonder what she's doing right now?"

**SHE'S PROBABLY UP TO NO GOOD!**

Tracy was in her room, pacing the floor.

"Argh! Macy was totes supposed to be here twenty whole seconds ago!" she griped. "What is keeping her?!"

The door to Tracy's room opened and Macy stepped in.

"Tracy!" she panted. "I'm here!"

"Well, it's about time or whatever. When are you going to learn how to get here faster?"

"Well, I left my house as soon as I got your text telling me to come here, and then I-"

"Ugh! It was a rhetorical question Macy! I don't care about your lame excuses! Now, I suppose you know why I made you come over."

"Well, you didn't put that in your text so-"

"Hmph! Figures you wouldn't know. Macy? Today is the day…the day I've been waiting for my entire life! Or at least since last year."

"What day Tracy?"

"Seriously? I've reminded you about this like seven times already! It's the day that I, Tracy Matthews, will finally destroy Grojband!"

"Really? It's that day already?" Macy looked at her phone. "I had that marked down for next week."

Tracy snatched Macy's phone from her and began changing her settings. When she gave the phone back, the date was different.

"There! Now it's official! At last, I'll finally be rid of my annoying sister's even annoying-er band! Never again will I hear that tortuous noise they call music!"

"That's great Tracy! So, uh…how are we going to get rid of them?"

"Uh, duh! That's why I called you over here Macy! I don't have a plan, so you're going to think of one for me!"

"Oh! Of course Tracy! But uh…I'm not sure I can come up with one…"

Tracy facepalmed. "Ugh! It's like this is your first time destroying a gross animated band! Honestly Macy, you're so pathetic!"

The taller girl picked up a magazine labeled "Super-Cute Villain Monthly" and threw it at Macy's face.

"I so have to do everything myself! Here, look through this and see if it gives you any ideas!"

So Macy flipped through the pages of the magazine, until she found an advertisement that was particularly interesting to her.

"Huh…hey Tracy! Listen to this! They're opening a new restaurant in town!" she began reading the ad. "'Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Opening this Saturday near Tranquil Town square. Come and meet Freddy and all his friends!'."

"Macy? Who cares about some dumb restaurant?" Tracy looked at the advertisement and screamed when she saw the animatronic characters. "Eeek! Scary puppets!"

"Aww…they're kinda cute Tracy. The bunny especially."

"Macy, you know how I feel about puppets! Get them out of my face!"

"But they're just robots. They wouldn't hurt a fly, unless of course they were programmed a certain way."

"I don't care! Just-" Tracy paused. "Wait a minute…what was the last thing you said?"

"Uh…they're just robots, they wouldn't hurt a fly?"

"No! After that!"

"Oh! Unless of course they were programmed a certain way?"

"Yes! That's it! Macy, your creepy puppets have just given me the greatest idea on how we can get rid of Grojband for good!" Tracy ripped the ad out of the magazine. "First, we'll trick those losers into going to that restaurant. Then you'll sneak in and reprogram those freaky animatronics to make them want to destroy the first people they see!" Tracy opened her dresser drawer and pulled out a lighter and a little picture of Grojband. "Once those puppets do their thing, Garbojband will finally be gone forever!" Tracy lit the picture on fire and laughed maniacally.

"Great idea Tracy!" Macy said. "But um…how are we going to get them to go to the restaurant?"

Tracy just gave a wicked smile, for she knew exactly how to get Grojband there.

Corey zipped into the garage, holding up the ad for the restaurant.

"Guys! Check out this advertisement I found sitting by Tracy's bedroom door!" he cried. "It's for some new place called Freddy Fazbear's Pizza and it says they're looking for a band to play on opening night!"

Laney and the twins went over to Corey to get a closer look. Tracy and Macy were by the door, listening in.

"Why at night?" Macy asked.

"There'll be no witnesses. Now shh!"

"Whoa, check out those animatronic animals!" Kin exclaimed. "They've got their own instruments and everything! Looks like the perfect place for us!"

"I hope being the opening night band means we get free food!" Kon wished.

Jackie took the paper and read it.

"I don't know guys. It kinda sounds like you wanna turn yourselves into animatronic puppets again. And we all know how well that went last time."

"Relax Jacks! You're starting to sound like Laney! You think we haven't learned by now? There'll be no Grojband puppets this time!" Corey remarked.

"But, this place looks kind of babyish." Jackie observed. "And playing there might make you look babyish. Do you really wanna be known throughout the town as a kiddie-band?"

"C'mon! It'll be fun!" Corey persuaded. "And once it's over, all the kids in town will love us!"

"For once, I actually don't have a problem with this plan." Laney took back the ad. "Especially since those animals look sooo cute!"

"Then it's settled!" Corey declared. "Grojband? We're gonna play at that restaurant tomorrow night and become the go-to band for kids everywhere!"

Jackie shrugged. "Well, you guys can go if you want, but I'm just telling you now, I can't go with you. It's my cousin's birthday tomorrow and we're going out to a REAL restaurant."

Corey realized something. "Hey, wait a minute…if there's a birthday party tomorrow, why didn't you tell us about it?"

Jackie blushed. "Oh…yeah…about that…remember when my aunt Patty invited you to play at her wedding a few months ago?"

"Sure, but what's that got to do with anything?" Corey asked.

_*Flashback to the wedding ceremony*_

The door to the church opened and Jackie's aunt Patty began walking down the aisle in a beautiful white gown. Jackie was sitting up front with her parents.

"Okay guys!" she whispered to the band. "That's your cue!"

Kon counted them in. "One, two, three, four!"

The all began playing a very loud and fast-paced version of 'Here Comes the Bride'. Everyone in the church covered their ears and rocked in their seats. The band's music caused the roof of the church to crack and eventually fall apart. All of the guests managed to exit the building before they got hurt. All except Aunt Patty who was knocked unconscious by a piece of the ceiling. Once the church crumbled to the ground, all of Jackie's family and relations made angry looks at Grojband.

Corey cleared his throat and talked into the mic.

"So uh, we still get free cake for this right?"

"Someone's in trouble!" Tracy sang to Jackie.

_*End flashback*_

"It took weeks to repair the church and Aunt Patty almost got a major concussion!" Jackie recalled. "After that incident, my parents told me they don't want me to bring you to family events anymore."

Kin's eyes filled with tears.

"They don't like us?" his fantasies of marrying Jackie were crushed.

"Cheer up Kin." Corey insisted. "There's plenty of time to get on Jackie's folks' good side later! You know what they say: The show must go on!"

Tracy giggled to herself, happy to know that her evil plan was set in motion.

**KIN WANTS TO MARRY JACKIE!**

Saturday night had finally come. Tracy, Macy, and Grojband were on their way to the new Freddy Fazbear's Pizza for the band's 'show'. Jackie and her parents had already left for the party.

"Thanks for giving us a lift to the gig Tracy!" Corey acknowledged. "I can't wait to see the looks on those kids' faces when they see us on stage!"

Tracy smiled innocently. "Anything for my baby sister's band!"

"Is anyone else somewhat suspicious of Tracy being nice to us?" Laney asked.

"Nah." Corey decided. "The author probably ran out of insults, so she's giving us compliments instead!"

Tracy snickered and whispered to Macy.

"This is too good to be true! Those fools will believe anything! Once those puppets eliminate them, I'll finally be free! That is, as long as you reprogram those things the right way. You will do it right, won't you Macy?"

Macy nodded nervously. "You bet Tracy! I won't let you down! Not after what happened last time…"

"Good!" Tracy tossed Macy her phone. "Text my parents and tell them I'll be late for my dumb cousin's party. I have to…take out the trash!" she giggled quietly.

After a twenty minute drive, Tracy's car finally pulled up to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Grojband stepped out of the car so they could get a closer look at the new restaurant. With the band distracted, Tracy and Macy were able to sneak around to the side of the building. They looked through the glass window and saw three animatronic animals on stage: a brown bear with a top hat, a purple bunny wearing a bowtie, and a yellow chicken wearing a bib with the words 'Let's Eat!' written on it.

"There they are Tracy!" Macy said.

"I know that Macy! Unlike you, I can see fine without glasses. Now get in there and reprogram those monstrous marionettes already!"

Macy reached into her purse and pulled out a laser cutter, which she used to cut a hole through the window. She then crawled through the hole and snuck over to the stage where the animatronics were. Using the tools she kept in her purse, she began to reprogram the animatronics.

"Wow! This place looks fun!" Kon cried. "Let's go in!"

"Um, guys? It doesn't look like we can go in." Laney pointed to a sign on the door. "See? It's closed."

Corey scoffed. "They probably just hung that up to keep people out while we rehearse! It's closed to everyone else, but to us, it's open!"

The blue-haired kid pulled on the front door, but found that it was locked.

"Huh?" he pulled even harder, but it still wouldn't open.

Tracy was watching them the whole time. She facepalmed when she saw Corey struggling to get the front door open.

"Ugh! They are sooo pathetic!" she turned around. "Macy!"

Macy popped out of the hole in the window and handed her BFF a key. The dark-haired teen then threw it at Kon's head.

"Ow!" Kon looked behind him and saw the key on the ground. "Hey guys! Maybe we should use this!"

"Yes!" Corey took the key. "Way to go Kon!"

As Corey unlocked the door, Laney couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"I don't know Core. I still have a feeling we're not supposed to be here."

The door opened and the four band members stepped inside. Corey flicked a switch to make the lights in the room turn on. That's when they all saw the animatronics standing on the stage.

"Hey look! It's those robots we saw on that advertisement!" Kin observed.

"Wow, I know I said these guys were cute before…" Laney said. "But up close, they look kinda creepy."

Then suddenly, the eyes on the bear animatronic began to move downward and he saw the band in front of him. Thanks to the upgrades Macy gave him, he was able to scan all four of the teens. When the scan was complete, a message popped up on the bear's programming screen. The message was in all-caps and it was only one word: 'Destroy'.

"Aw c'mon Lanes!" Corey shrugged. "They're a band just like us! I'm sure they're just looking for a good time!"

"Hey everyone!" the bear animatronic said. "And welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza! I'm Freddy Fazbear and these are my pals, Bonnie and Chica! On the count of three, let's strike up the band!"

"See?" Corey claimed. "They're totally harmless!"

"One…two…(time to die)…three!"

Corey froze. "Wait, what was that last thing he said?"

**SLAM!**

The front doors of the restaurant banged shut and the room went dark.

"AAA!" Grojband yelped.

"What's happening?!" Corey panicked.

"Guys? I don't like this anymore!" Kon exclaimed.

The animatronics began to play creepy music.

**(Original Song: Welcome to Freddy's by Madame Macabre)**

_Chica: (to Corey) I can see you there_

_With your beanie and blue hair_

_Soon you and your band _

_Will fall under our command_

_(To Laney) Excuse me little boy_

_Don't touch me, I'm not a toy_

_Touch me and I might_

_Have to give your hand a bite_

_(To Kin) What's this? Oh my word_

_You're a funny-looking nerd_

_Though you're small in size_

_We like children with four eyes_

_(To Kon) And last but not least_

_Is the biggest of our feast_

_His weight is acute_

_But he might still fit in a suit_

_Bonnie and Chica: Time for us to move in closer_

_Give up now, your life is over_

_Try to hide, but we will find you_

_You'd better look out behind you_

_Singing like this wastes our power_

_But we still can last for hours_

_We can hear your hearts pound heavy_

_Time to play, we hope you're ready!_

_Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica: Shouldn't have come here_

_To this house of fear_

_You look quite scared already_

_As the clock ticks on_

_You pray to reach dawn_

_But you won't last long at Freddy's_

The animatronics stepped off the stage and moved toward Grojband.

"What do we do Core?!" Laney worried.

"There's only one thing we can do Lanes! RUN!"

The four screamed and ran away from the animatronics.

"You can run but you can't hide!" Bonnie called.

The band sprinted as fast as they could down the halls of the restaurant. Corey spotted a room with an open door.

"In there! Quick!"

The kids scrambled into the room, which appeared to be a security guard's office. Laney noticed two buttons on the wall. One was labeled 'Door' and the other was labeled 'Light'. She quickly pressed the door button and the door closed before Bonnie could get in.

"Hey!" a man sitting in an office chair said. "How'd you kids get in here?"

Kon pushed the man out the other door, causing the tablet he was holding to fall out of his hands. He fell right in front of Chica. She looked down and saw him by her feet.

"AAA!" the man covered his face. "Don't kill me!"

Chica kicked the guard aside and planted her face to the office window.

"You kiddies can't stay in there forever! Using those doors uses up the restaurant's power! Once the power goes out, the doors will open right up and you'll be all ours!"

"Oh man, she's right Core!" Laney clamored. "What do we do?"

"Hold on! Hold on!" Corey reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "Yes! Don't worry guys! I'll call Jackie and she can come and get us out of here!"

He dialed Jackie's number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hi!" Jackie's voice said on the other end.

"Jacks! It's me Corey! We're in big trouble! You've gotta-"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not available right now. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"What?! Are you kidding me?!"

"What's wrong now?" Laney asked.

"She didn't answer!"

"Knock, knock!" Bonnie banged on the door. "The Easter Bunny's got some candy for you!"

"CALL HER AGAIN!" Kon shrieked.

Corey redialed the number while the animatronics started singing again.

_Chica: They don't let us out_

_All the people scream and shout_

_After they go home_

_That is when they let us roam_

_Once we got a taste_

_But they shut us down in haste_

_We began to smell_

_Why you ask? We'll never tell_

_Who's that on the phone?_

_You're supposed to be alone_

_You're not playing fair_

_We'll just have to break in there_

_You can join the crew_

_We have got some suits for you_

_I cannot see how_

_Your manager can save you now_

_Bonnie and Chica: Stalking hallways getting closer_

_Got you now, it's nearly over_

_Try to hide, but we will find you_

_You'd better look out behind you_

_Careful not to waste your power_

_We can still go on for hours_

_We can hear your hearts pound heavy_

_Here we come, we hope you're ready!_

_Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica: Why did you come here?_

_Your end is quite near_

_Pray that those doors hold steady_

_You've made it quite far_

_It's rather bizarre_

_But you won't last long at Freddy's_

"C'mon Jacks! Answer! Answer!" Corey begged.

Jackie, meanwhile, was dining with her family at a fancy restaurant for her cousin's birthday.

"Madam? What would you like to order?" the waiter asked Jackie.

Jackie was about to answer until her phone went off. She looked at the caller ID and saw that Corey was calling her again.

"Madam?" the waiter repeated.

Jackie declined the call and turned her phone off.

"So sorry about that." she chuckled nervously. "Um…I'll have…"

"Voice mail again?!" Laney wailed. "We're doomed!"

"Okay, let's not panic!" Corey reassured his friends. "We only have to wait long enough until Jackie calls us back! And like that creepy bird thing told us, those doors will stay closed as long as we have power! And we have plenty of power left!"

"Uh, Corey?" Kin showed his leader the percentage of power left on the tablet. It read 0%.

Both doors in the office opened and the animatronics got in.

"Aha! Now we gotcha!" Freddy shouted.

"AAAAAAA!" Grojband screamed.

"On second thought, forget waiting for Jackie!" Corey announced. "Let's get out of here!"

Using their wits, the four managed to dodge the robots and escape the office.

"After them!" Freddy ordered.

The band ran all the way to the back of the restaurant and found a curtain with a sign in front of it that read 'Sorry! Out of order'. They decided to use it as their new hiding place. On the way in, they bumped into something tall and furry. They looked up and saw a red fox animatronic with a hook for a hand.

"Arrgh! Who dares disturb Pirate Captain Foxy?" the fox demanded. "Ye barnacles will walk the plank for that! Any last words?"

Corey still had his phone up to his ear and had just finished listening to Jackie's voice mail message for the third time.

"At the tone, please record your message." the phone beeped.

_Corey: I just want to go home_

_Laney: Don't want to be alone_

_Kin: Why can't this be a dream?_

_Kon: On the count of three, scream_

_All: One…two…three…_

_AAAAAAAAA!_

Corey and the gang ran away from Foxy and started looking for the exit. The animatronics continued to chase them.

_Animatronics: Shouldn't have come here_

_To this house of fear_

_Your time has come, hope you're ready_

_As the clock ticks on_

_You pray to reach dawn_

_But you won't last long at Freddy's_

_Why did you come here?_

_Your end is quite near_

_Your time has come, hope you're ready_

_You've made it quite far_

_It's rather bizarre_

_But you won't last long at Freddy's_

Finally, after a bit of a chase, Grojband made it back to the main dining area.

"There's the way out!" Corey ran to the front doors and started pushing them. But they wouldn't budge.

"Hurry up!" Kin warned. "They're coming!"

"The doors are stuck!" Corey informed his bandmates. "It's like there's something blocking them!"

"Look!" Kon pointed toward the glass window and the group noticed someone familiar standing outside and blocking the door with a board of wood.

"Tracy?!" Corey cried.

"Looks like you've played your last note, Fromojband!" Tracy let out an evil laugh.

"Yar, har, har!" Foxy chuckled. "What do we have here? Let's divide up the booty, lads!"

"You go first Foxy." Freddy insisted.

"Very well then." Foxy used his hook hand to pick up Kon by his shirt collar. "Ahoy there fatso! You're going to love being a part of the crew!"

Kon was dragged away by Foxy's hook.

"No! I'd rather walk the plank!"

Bonnie got ahold of Kin.

"So, you're a science nerd huh? Boy, are you gonna love what's gonna happen next!"

"Wait! I'm too young!" Kin protested. "And I haven't told Jackie how I feel yet!"

"You're coming with me, little boy!" Chica grabbed Laney.

"I'm a girl!" Laney yelled.

"And I've got something special in mind for you, Mr. Front Man!" Freddy laughed and lifted up Corey. He and the other animatronics proceeded to take the band to a room in the back. More specifically, a utility closet.

After the reprogrammed robots' work was done, the doors to the restaurant opened and four objects came flying out. These four objects were the same four objects that we learned about in the beginning of this story: an orange skull beanie, a hair clip, a pair of glasses and a red sweatband. Otherwise known as the only things that remained of Grojband…

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Well what do you know? Looks like my previous dream predicted the future after all. DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!**

**So now that you're done reading the first part of the story, I bet I can guess what you're thinking again: "corneyforever, you got it all wrong. There were five kids killed at Freddy Fazbear's, not four! Also, where the heck is Balloon Boy and Mangle and the Puppet?"**

**First of all, yes I know this isn't how the story of Five Nights at Freddy's goes. I watch Game Theory sometimes too, you know. The truth is, I've had this story planned out for a long time and even when I finally did learn about the true story, I didn't want to change anything about mine. Because honestly, almost everybody knows the story of FNAF by now and I didn't want to give you guys that same old story. Rather, I wanted to create a story of my own and present it to you. And the reason for why the newer characters (Balloon Boy, Mangle, etc.) aren't in this is because I only wanted to base it off of the first game. So please don't explain to me how the story of FNAF should go because I've heard it a million times already. **

**Okay, now that that rant is over, I want to introduce a new segment in the author's notes. If you enjoy surfing the Internet like me, then you are probably familiar with the website, TV Tropes. If you aren't, allow me to explain. Basically, TV Tropes is a wiki that explains different aspects, or tropes, in TV shows, movies, and even fanfiction. Some of the tropes featured on this site include character traits, plot devices, or personal opinions. For example, there is a page for Grojband on this site and on it, Kin Kujira is described to be a "Ditzy Genius" which means someone who is really smart, but lacks common sense.**

**So for this new segment in the author's notes, I'm going to be talking about a trope known as "Dethroning Moment of Suck". In other words, this is a specific moment in a movie, TV show, or book that some people just don't like. This may be because the scene makes characters unlikeable or stupid, or because it's just plain boring. One thing I've noticed about Grojband's page is that there is no DMOS section for it. And let me be the first to say: there should be. **

**Now don't get me wrong, I love Grojband very much and I think every episode is enjoyable for the most part. However, there are plenty of moments in the show that I believe should count as "Dethroning Moments". So for the next 10 chapters, including this one, I will be discussing my top 10 Grojband Dethroning Moments. Most of them come from the second half of season 1, by the way. Here we go.**

**#10: As most of you know, Grojband was originally intended to have one 22-minute segment per episode. This first dethroning moment comes from the original 22-minute long pilot episode (aka: the long version of Smash Up Terby). The scene occurs right after Corey explains the plan on how he and the other band members are going to embarrass Trina in front of Nick Mallory and get lyrics from her. After Corey tells his friends the plan's super long title, Laney compliments him by saying "Catchy title.". To which Corey responds: "Thank you sir." Really? Sir? Are you kidding me? This has got to be Corey's dumbest nickname for Laney yet. Seriously, I was able to tolerate all those other names like "dude", "fella", and even "bro", but "sir"?! That just makes it seem like Corey doesn't know Laney is a girl. I am so glad this scene was omitted from the revised episode, because it just made Corey look like an idiot.**

**Okay, I'm done now. Man, I think this chapter has had the longest author's notes out of all of them. I'm still working on Part 2 so I most likely won't have it up this weekend. Still, if you want it up sooner, leave me some reviews. The new rule is I upload new stuff when a chapter gets at least THREE reviews. See you guys later!**


	54. Nightmare at Freddy's Part 2

**Hey guys. I'm really tired today. You wanna know why? I couldn't sleep last night because I couldn't stop crying. Why couldn't I stop crying you ask? Well, yesterday I checked the Neptoon Studios blog and it looks like our nightmare has come true. Somebody on Tumblr told Todd Kauffman how much he/she missed Grojband and asked if there were going to be any more episodes. To which Todd replied:**

**"****Thanks. I miss it too. But it doesn't look like there will be anymore - sadly."**

**If you don't believe me, check the Neptoon Studios blog for yourself. Grojband truly was my favorite show and I'm going to miss it terribly. We did all we could guys. We tried our best to keep this show alive, but in the end it just wasn't enough. At least Corey and Laney kissed once before the series ended. I guess that proves we need to cherish the things we care about the most because it won't be long before those things disappear for good. **

**R.I.P. Grojband 2013-2015**

**Anyway, here's Part 2 of Nightmare at Freddy's which now that I think about it kind of represents the cancellation of Grojband and the fans' reaction to it. Enjoy. **

* * *

**Chapter 54**

**Nightmare at Freddy's Part 2**

Tracy and Macy stood over the remnants of Grojband in complete silence. The events that preceded the current chapter had left them speechless. In fact, I'm sure you were left speechless after you read the last chapter as well. But don't worry, that's normal.

Macy spoke up. "Wow Tracy…you did it…you destroyed Grojband…"

"Really? Me? I did it?" Tracy was astonished. "I destroyed Grojband?"

There was a brief pause before Tracy squealed in excitement.

"Yes! At last! It took me 54 chapters but I finally did it! Grojband is no more! I'm so happy and junk!"

"Congrats Tracy!" Macy praised the taller teen. "Looks like all that hard work paid off!"

"Tell me about it! Do you know how hard it was to force you to reprogram those scary puppets? I'm totally exhausted! C'mon Macy! Let's go home and celebrate Grojband's demise!"

"But what about your cousin's birthday party?"

Tracy threw her phone at Macy's face.

"Tell my parents I have homework to do. They won't care if I miss out. Besides, my dumb cousin has a birthday party every year. A day like this only comes once in a lifetime! Now let's go!"

"Um…"

"Ugh! What is it now?"

"What are we going to do with Grojband's remains?" Macy referred to the four objects that were once possessed by Jackie's band.

"I don't care! Go throw em in a dumpster or something!"

Macy picked up the items from the ground.

"Of course Tracy! And since it was your idea and everything, would you like to throw one in?" Macy offered Corey's beanie to Tracy.

"Eww!" Tracy shuddered. "I'm not touching those things! They're covered in Grojgerms! Get them out of here NOW!"

Macy went over to the dumpster beside the building and threw all four items inside of it.

The next day, Jackie woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning. Judging by the birds singing outside her window, she had a feeling it was going to be a good day. She got out of bed, got dressed, then headed downstairs to the garage so she could help Grojband practice their music. She couldn't wait to hear how their show went the other night.

However, when she stepped inside the garage, she was surprised to see that it was empty! There was no greeting, no music, and no Grojband. The only things that were there were the band's instruments.

"Hello?" Jackie called. "Guys, I'm here! Corey? Laney? Kin? Kon? Where is everyone?"

She began searching the garage to see if the gang was hiding somewhere. She looked behind the couch, in the broom closet, and even behind Kon's drum sets. But she couldn't find her friends anywhere.

_"__Hmm…maybe they decided to get something to eat first…_" Jackie thought.

So she went to go see if Grojband was in the kitchen. But after finding an empty table and a fridge full of food that had obviously not been touched by Kon, she concluded the band wasn't there either.

After that, Jackie proceeded to check every room in her house. At that point, she thought her friends were just messing with her.

"Guys! Come on out! This isn't funny!" she scolded.

Nobody answered.

"Guys! Will you stop playing games and just answer me?!"

There was still no response. Jackie was starting to get scared.

"Oh no…they must have gotten lost on the way back from the gig…" she worried. "I'd better get out there and find them!"

Jackie ran back upstairs to her room and picked up the picture frame by her bed. Then she took out the photo that was inside of it. The photo was of Grojband.

Once the manager left her house, her search for her band continued. Whenever she met somebody on the street, she showed that person the picture of her band and asked if he or she had seen them. Every single one of them answered 'no'.

But Jackie wouldn't give up. She knew her friends were out there somewhere, so she continued her search downtown. But nobody there had seen the band either. Finally, after asking what seemed like one hundred people, Jackie decided to take a break and go to the park. When she got there, she sat down on a bench and sighed. She looked at the photo of Grojband and wondered where they could have gotten to. Or better yet, why they didn't tell her where they would be going. Jackie knew it wasn't like her friends to not let her in on what they were doing.

That's when it dawned on the brunette. Grojband _had_ told her what they were doing. The answer was right in front of her the whole time. Figuratively because the band had said they were playing at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza the other night and literally because there was an ad for the pizzeria taped to a telephone pole across from her. Jackie stood up, knowing exactly where she needed to go next.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

After a bit of a walk, Jackie finally made it to the restaurant. When she walked through the front doors, she was immediately greeted with singing, arcade sounds, and screaming kids. Jackie looked around the place and saw plenty of things that caught her attention. Aside from the many families enjoying some delicious-looking pizza and cupcakes, there was a ball pit, tons of classic arcade games, and a prize corner with all sorts of cool stuff. There was also a repairman replacing part of a glass window, but she didn't pay much attention to that. The things that Jackie was most impressed with were the animatronics singing and entertaining the kids on stage. She was about to step closer so she could get a better look, until she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey! Jackie!"

Jackie turned around and smiled when she saw somebody she knew.

"Billy! I didn't know you worked here!"

Billy was wearing a top hat with bear ears. "Yep! Fazbear Billy they call me! So, what's the best manager in Tranquil Town doing here?"

"Billy, I need your help." Jackie explained. "I think my band has gone missing! I went to my garage to practice with them this morning, but they weren't there! Nobody in town has seen them either!"

"Hmm…I see…"

"But then I remembered they were planning on playing here last night, which is why I came here to look for them!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Billy interrupted. "Grojband was gonna play here? Why would they do that?"

"Well, they found an advertisement that said this place was looking for a band to perform on opening night."

"Well, obviously there was a misprint, cause Freddy Fazbear's Pizza don't need no band. The animatronics provide the entertainment!"

Billy was about to leave, but Jackie stepped in front of him.

"But they had to have come here! They told me they were going to and besides, it's the only place in town I haven't checked!"

"Sorry Jackie, but your band ain't here. I haven't seen em all day!" Billy once again, tried to leave, but Jackie stopped him.

"Please? Can't you check? Maybe there's a chance you missed them!"

Billy chuckled. "Trust me Jackie, friends like yours ain't too easy to miss!"

Jackie looked down. "But…but I know they came here…"

"Tell ya what." Billy put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll keep an eye out for em and if I see em come in, I'll let ya know."

"Well…"

Billy led Jackie over to an empty table and sat her down.

"Now how bout you sit right there while I get ya a drink?"

Jackie nodded and the businessman left. While she waited, she decided to watch the show for a little bit.

"Hey kids!" the Freddy animatronic said. "We hope you're having a grand old time! Are you ready to have some fantastic Fazbear fun?"

"Yeah!" the kids answered.

"Okay then! Let's introduce the Freddy Fazbear band! As you know, I'm Freddy Fazbear, lead singer and lead guitarist! To my left, we have Chica the Chicken on bass guitar!"

"Thanks Freddy!" Chica waved to the audience.

"Standing behind me, we have Pirate Captain Foxy on drums!"

"Ahoy there kiddies!" Foxy showed off his hook hand.

"And last but certainly not least, we have Bonnie the Bunny on keyboards!" Freddy gestured toward the purple bunny to his right.

But Bonnie didn't say anything. His magenta-colored eyes were pointed at a certain sad-looking, brown-haired girl sitting all by herself. He had the sudden urge to get off the stage and cheer her up. But Freddy snapped him out of it.

"Ahem! Bonnie! Hello?"

"What?" Bonnie turned his head. "Oh! Yeah, the show thing. Um, I'm ready."

Freddy looked at the audience.

"How about you kids? Are you ready too?"

"We're ready Freddy!" all of the kids except Jackie screamed.

"Okay! Then let's rock-er, I mean, let's have some Fazbear fun!"

As soon as the robots started singing, Jackie realized how familiar their voices sounded. She knew she had heard those voices somewhere before. However, she didn't have much time to think about it because at that point, Billy had returned with a soda.

"Here you go Jackie. This one's on the house!"

"Thanks Billy." Jackie drank it even though she wasn't that thirsty.

Then one of the staff members came up to Billy holding a trash bag.

"Hey boss!" he said. "I put the trash out on the curb like you said, but that garbageman never showed up!"

Billy facepalmed. "Oh! That guy never comes when we need em! Okay Leo, just put the bag over there for now."

The employee placed the bag of trash in the corner of the main dining area and walked away. Then Jackie saw that the bag was open and something familiar and orange was sticking out of it. When Billy wasn't looking, she decided to go over and investigate. The brunette reached into the bag and what she pulled out was enough to shock her.

"Corey's beanie?" she inquired.

Then a few more things caught her eye, so she took them out too. She was becoming even more horrified.

"Laney's hair clip? Kin's glasses? Kon's sweatband? What are all of Grojband's personal belongings doing in the trash? They would never give up these things. Especially not Kin, he's blind as a bat without his glasses! Unless…" Jackie gasped. "Something happened to them?"

Jackie looked behind her and saw that Billy was distracted. She carefully hid the four items behind her back and snuck out through the front doors.

Meanwhile, Tracy was back home in her room, getting her toenails painted by Macy.

"Ahh…this is totes the best!" Tracy sighed. "Finally, I can relax without having to worry about Grojnoise spoiling my day! I could get used to this."

"So Tracy? What are we going to do now that Grojband is gone? I mean, I imagine we'll have a lot of time on our hands since we won't be ruining any more gigs."

"You know, you actually make a good point for once Mace! No Grojband means I'll have more time to do anything I want! Like shopping for purses or getting my hair done or going on dates with hunky Rick Salary!"

Just then, Jackie arrived home carrying the four items she found at the restaurant. Tracy and Macy stepped out of the room and watched her walk upstairs.

"Gee, I wonder what's gotten into her?" Macy thought aloud.

Tracy smiled. "Guess she found out about her little friends and now she's totally heartbroken and whatnot! Macy? You're going to have to hold off on painting the left foot. It's bragging time!"

Jackie opened the door to her room and placed her friends' things on her bed.

"Oh guys…" she groaned. "What happened to you? Where did you go?"

"Hey squirt! Why the long face?"

Jackie turned around and saw Tracy leaning against her bedroom door.

"What do you want Tracy?"

"What? I can't stop by my little sister's room to torment her now and then?"

"In case you didn't know, Grojband went missing this morning. These four things were all I managed to find of them. But I know they would never get rid of these things on purpose. If only I knew what went on at their gig last night."

"Aww…sounds like you really care for those losers you call friends, huh?"

"Of course I do! More than anything…"

"Well, in that case, I guess it wouldn't be fair of me not to tell you how I got rid of them last night."

"What are you talking about?" Jackie questioned.

Tracy snickered. "Those dorks never had a gig! I made the whole thing up so I could trick them into going to that creepy diner! And they fell for it hook, line, and sinker!"

Jackie stood up. "What?!"

"See, while you were at that lame birthday party, I was busy driving your nerdy band to that new restaurant. Once we got there, I knew it would be so easy to lock them inside the place! And let me tell you, it's hard to escape death when you're trapped like a rat!"

"Where are they?!" Jackie demanded.

"I already told you, I got rid of them! With a techy nerd like Macy on my side, I was able to reprogram those animatronic things to destroy the first set of people they see! And wouldn't you know it? It was Grojband!"

Jackie got into Tracy's face.

"You! You did this! How could you?! I oughta-"

Tracy pressed a finger to Jackie's forehead and pushed her down.

"Hey, don't blame me sis! My plan might not have worked and Grojband would still be alive if it wasn't for you!"

"Me?" Jackie repeated. "But how could it have been me? I wasn't even there!"

"Exactly! You weren't there to help your precious band when they needed you the most! Guess you don't care about them after all."

"But…but…that can't be right! I would have gone and saved them if they had just called-" Jackie came to a realization. "-me…oh no…they did call me…when I was at the restaurant…but I ignored that call…"

"Is that so? In that case, maybe you should check your voice mail."

Jackie picked up her phone and went into her voice mail application.

"You have one new message." the phone said before playing the message.

_Corey: I just want to go home_

_Laney: Don't want to be alone_

_Kin: Why can't this be a dream?_

_Kon: On the count of three, scream_

_All: One…two…three…_

_AAAAAAAAA!_

Jackie's phone beeped. "You have no more new messages."

Jackie was overcome with sorrow.

"No! It couldn't have been my fault! How was I supposed to know my band was in grave danger?"

"If I were you little sister, I'd face facts! Grojband is dead! Gone! Finished! And there's not a thing you can do to bring them back! From now on, you'll always be alone! You'll have no friends, no career in management, and no band!" Tracy laughed evilly and slammed the door.

Jackie heard thunder above her house and saw that it was storming outside. She looked up at her poster of her former-band.

"Grojband is gone? And it's all because of me?" she clutched her heart. "What have I done?"

**(Original Song: It's Been So Long by The Living Tombstone)**

_Jackie: I don't know what I was thinking_

_Leaving my band behind_

_Now I suffer the curse and now I am blind_

_And all the anger, love, and sadness that came from my older sister_

_Does not compare to my own guilty twister_

_Is this revenge I am seeking?_

_Or seeking someone to avenge me?_

_Now I am all alone_

_I wanna set them all free_

_Maybe I should chase and find before she tries to stop it_

_It won't be long before I become a puppet_

_It's been so long_

_Since Grojband has been gone_

_Lost to the monsters_

_To the things behind the slaughter_

_I sing this song_

_For Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon_

_Oh what can I do_

_To show how much I miss you?_

Meanwhile at Freddy Fazbear's, Billy had just finished closing up shop. The four animatronics were resting on the stage, after playing a whole day's worth of songs. However, as soon as Billy had gone, their eyes lit up and they started roaming the halls of the restaurant.

_Jackie: I wish I could see them once more_

_To tell them my past mistakes_

_But the future keeps luring in _

_Like a pack of snakes_

_Your beanie, hair clip, glasses, and sweatband's all I have to remember_

_Those happy memories we shared with each other_

_Justification is killing me_

_But killing isn't justified_

_What happened to my band?_

_I'm terrified_

_It lingers in my mind and the thought keeps on getting bigger_

_I'm sorry my best friends, I wish I'd been there_

_It's been so long_

_Since Grojband has been gone_

_Lost to the monsters_

_To the things behind the slaughter_

_I sing this song _

_For Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon_

_Oh what can I do_

_To show how much I miss you?_

And thus we return to where we started the story, with Jackie sitting on her bed and sobbing over the loss of her friends. The storm outside worsened with each sob and whimper. She was starting to believe that Tracy had been right. Grojband was gone forever and all she had to remember them by were their own personal objects. From that point on, she would be alone. She would have no Corey to sing songs to her, no Laney to have girl time with, no Kon to make her laugh, and no Kin to offer a shoulder for her to cry on. Jackie felt that the day she became Grojband's manager was the day her life really started. But now that Grojband was no longer with her, it was like her life had just ended.

No. That couldn't be true. Jackie's life couldn't be over. And neither could Grojband's. There was still a chance she could save them, right? After all, if she and her friends could find a way to escape the Internet world, stop a giant perfectionist helmet from destroying the town, and time travel, then there had to be a way for her to bring the band back to life. All she had to do was find out how they expired and then figure out a way to reverse their deaths. Jackie knew this plan was a long-shot, but she would do anything to help her best friends. It was then that the brunette made her decision. She was going back to Freddy Fazbear's that night and getting her band back.

**IT'S TIME TO SAVE THE BAND!**

One transition later, Jackie returned to the restaurant, ready for action. She saw that the place was closed and empty, so she knew it was the perfect time to sneak in and get some information. She quietly crept over to the side of the building and pulled out a laser cutter she stole from Tracy's room. Then she did exactly what Macy had done the other night and cut a hole through the glass window. Once she was inside the building, she started thinking about where she could find evidence of her band's demise. That's when she saw a video camera sitting in a corner of the ceiling in the main dining area and got an idea. She realized that if the camera was recording her at that moment, then it had to have recorded the events of the previous night as well.

The sharp-witted manager was about to go down the hall to find the security room, until she bumped into something on the way. Something tall, fuzzy, and brown. The creature turned around, and judging by his glow-in-the-dark blue eyes, Jackie could tell that it was the animatronic bear known as Freddy Fazbear.

"Code red! Code red! Code red!" Freddy shouted.

It wasn't long before Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy joined the robot leader.

"What's going on Freddy?" Chica asked. "Is there a robbery?"

"Has somebody snuck in after hours?" Bonnie guessed.

"No! Even worse!" Freddy pointed at Jackie. "This metal endoskeleton isn't wearing its costume!"

"But that be against the rules here!" Foxy claimed. "Or…at least I think it is…isn't it? The truth is I can't seem to remember!"

Chica rolled her eyes. "Ugh! Seriously Foxy? A hand isn't the only thing you're missing. Anyway Freddy, how do we know for sure this 'thing' is an endoskeleton?"

"Yeah, in fact, I'm getting the feeling that I've seen this creature before…Maybe it isn't an endoskeleton…" Bonnie got a closer look at Jackie's face. "Whatever it is, it's kind of attractive…"

Freddy slapped Bonnie across the face.

"Snap out of it Bonnie! I'm the leader of this place, and if I say it's an endoskeleton, then it's an endoskeleton!"

Jackie was confused. Not only were the animatronics' voices familiar, but so were their behaviors.

"C'mon gang! Let's get this thing back in its suit!"

The four robots charged for the teenaged girl but luckily, she managed to escape them by running down the halls.

"Hey!" Freddy called. "Get back here!"

Jackie ran as fast as her two legs could carry her. While running, she spotted a door labeled 'Utility Closet' in the middle of the hallway. Quickly, she dove into the room and the animatronics lost sight of her.

Jackie panted heavily and checked the window to make sure she was safe. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she turned on the lights and to her horror, the same four animatronic characters were standing in the same room with her.

"AAAAAA!" Jackie screamed.

"AAAAAA!" the animatronics screamed with her.

"AAAAAA!"

"AAAAAA!"

"AAAAAA!" Jackie paused. "Wait, why are you screaming?"

"Oh, sorry!" the second Freddy apologized. "We thought you were one of…'them'…"

"'Them'?" Jackie restated. "Who's 'them'?"

"The new guys!" wailed the second Bonnie. "You know, the animals you see performing on stage during the day?"

"Hold on, you mean those robot things that thought I was some sort of endoskeleton and tried to put me in a costume?"

"They saw you?!" Chica covered her eyes. "Oh no! That's it! We're scrap metal! If they find us in here talking to a human, who knows what they'll do?"

"Why would they care if they saw you talking with me?" Jackie asked.

"Arrgh! Tis a violation of ordinance!" Foxy explained. "We animatronics are only allowed to say what we were programmed to say! Any misspoken words or sentences results in a terrifying penalty!"

"What sort of penalty?" Jackie inquired.

"See all these holes and marks put into our costumes?"

Jackie did notice that these animatronics were more tattered and damaged than the other ones.

"What about em?"

"'They' put them there!" Chica cried. "They said the next time they caught us violating the rules would be even worse! What if they say I can't wear my favorite bib anymore? I can't bear to function without my bib!" Chica hugged Bonnie and sobbed.

"Aw, what does it matter Chica?" Freddy moped. "We're obsolete, remember? We won't be singing on stage anytime soon."

"Why not?" Jackie asked.

"Sheesh, you ask a lot of questions kid." Bonnie replied. "Curiosity killed the cat you know. In fact, why'd you even come here after hours?"

"Well, my band went missing here the other night and I was hoping to find-"

The robots gasped.

"Those kids that came in after closing…" Freddy remembered. "That was your band?!"

"Yeah. My sister made it look like this place was looking for someone to play opening night, so they came here. Then she reprogrammed those other animatronics to destroy them."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Freddy interrupted. "You think that 'they' were the ones who destroyed your band?"

"Well, sure! I mean, since they tried to stuff me in a suit and damaged you guys anyway."

Freddy scratched his neck. "Yeah…see, they're not the ones who killed them…that was kinda…our fault."

"Wait, you're the ones who got rid of my friends?!" Jackie shouted.

"Hey! Don't blame us! We were under new management, remember?" Bonnie reminded her. "Well, except for Foxy. Truth is, he's had a grudge against humans since the day they put him behind the curtain in the back room."

Foxy nodded. "Aye. I've been in disrepair since the fall of 1987. I performed me pirate shanties for the little ones for five years until one day…I noticed one of the lads was holding an ice cream cone. A delicious combination of vanilla and chocolate with a bit of sprinkles on top. When the little laddie came up to me, I knew I had to take a bite of his delicious confection. Unfortunately, when I did, my aim was a bit off. Tis amazing how humans can live without their frontal lobe. Anyway, after that incident, the staff left me sequestered in the back room until the place closed down. And even when this new restaurant opened up, I still remained behind that same curtain, with no one to perform for. On that day, I promised myself that I would punish the first humans to ever cross my path!"

Jackie raised an eyebrow. "So, you bit somebody, the employees made you stay behind a curtain, and then you blamed my band for it?"

"Yes. What be your point?"

"Uh…yeah…so would you all care to tell me how you eliminated my band?"

"Oh! Easy!" Freddy spoke up. "We stuffed them in those other four animatronic suits."

"What?!"

"But it was a mistake!" the robotic bear defended himself. "Once their spirits took over the costumes, they became the bosses of us! First, they forced us to stay in this utility closet, then they punished us every time they caught us breaking the rules, and worst of all, they took over as the new Freddy Fazbear band!"

"Well, that last part kind of sounds like them…" Jackie noted.

Freddy grabbed Jackie by her feet.

"Please! Please help us get our jobs back!" he whimpered. "My parts are starting to get rusty!"

Jackie smiled. "Tell you what. If you help me get my band back, then I'll make sure you become the stars of the restaurant again!"

The animatronic's eyes lit up. "You will?!"

"Absolutely!"

"YAY!" all five cheered.

"There's only one problem." Bonnie said. "We don't know how to get your friends out of those suits."

"What?!" Jackie was exasperated. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Sorry, it's not something that normally happens at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza."

That's when Freddy got an idea.

"Wait! I know somebody who might know how to fix this!"

"Who?" Jackie asked.

"My grandfather…Golden Fredbear."

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Sorry if I ruined the characters of FNAF for you. I've always believed the animatronics to be innocent, since after all, they're possessed by children. And yes, I made them all a band, because why not?**

**So I hoped this chapter cheered some of you up and in case it didn't (cause let's face it, Grojband is still technically dead) maybe my explanation of this dethroning moment of Grojband will:**

**#9: This scene comes from the episode "Love In A Nethervator", an episode where every scene had its funny moments. Well, all of them except this one. In this scene, Trina has finally accomplished her goal of trapping Nick Mallory in an elevator with her so she can hear their two hearts beating on the first day of forever. However, when she leans in to hear their two hearts beat, she hears a third heart beat out of nowhere. This third heart beat, as we learn, belongs to Mina. Angered, Trina lets Mina know that she doesn't want to hear her heart beating with hers or Nick's. So Mina intentionally forces her heart to stop beating just to make Trina happy. Keep in mind Mina chooses to be friends with Trina because she is popular and Mina isn't. So is she really that desperate for attention that she has to almost kill herself? If Mina knew Trina wanted to be alone with Nick, then why did she have to get in the elevator with her? She could have saved herself from having heart failure if she had just chosen to stay in the garage. It's called common sense Mina. Use it. **

**Okay guys, I hate to leave you with a cliffhanger, but I'm actually going to take a break from writing right now. I have midterms coming up and I need to use this time to study. Don't worry, I should be back with Part 3 next week. In the meantime, remember to review and I'll see you guys next time. Grojband forever!**


	55. Nightmare at Freddy's Part 3

**Hope you guys are excited because the third and final part of Nightmare at Freddy's is finally here! Sorry it took me a while to finish this one, had a lot of homework. **

**First let me just say that I had this story planned out a long time before I found out about Grojband's cancellation. Yet, when you start to analyze the context of the story, you can kinda compare it with the events of the cancellation. Let me explain:  
**

**Part 1 describes the cancellation itself. As in something happened to Grojband that was (almost) beyond our control and the show got cancelled because of it. ****  
**

**Part 2 shows everyone's reactions to the show being discontinued (Jackie representing a Grojfan, Tracy representing a hater) and how we Grojfans refuse to believe that it's truly over.**

**And now we have Part 3 which is about how we the fans can move on from this tragedy and how as long as we keep our love for the show alive, it'll never truly die (pay close attention to the chorus of this chapter's song).**

**This is just something to keep in mind when you are rereading this fanfic ;). Okay, that's all I have to say. Please enjoy Part 3!**

* * *

**Chapter 55**

**Nightmare at Freddy's Part 3**

Freddy peeked his head out from behind the corner of the east hallway. He looked left. Then he looked right. He looked left again. He looked right again.

"Okay!" he said to Jackie and the other animatronics. "The coast is clear! Let's go!"

The five slowly crept down the hallways, taking small steps to make sure they didn't attract any attention.

"So, do you really think your grandfather knows how to get my friends out of those animatronic suits?" Jackie whispered to Freddy.

"Of course! He's been a part of Fazbear Entertainment longer than any of us after all!" Freddy replied. "In fact, he was functioning before we even bought the rights to that name! If anybody knows how to fix a suit issue, Grandpa Golden Fredbear does!"'

"Aye, but be warned!" Foxy told Jackie. "He don't have both oars in the water, if ye catch my drift."

The bear animatronic led the others further down the hall until they made it to the kitchen.

"This is it! In here!"

Jackie was about to enter but Freddy stopped her.

"Erm, you'd better let me go in first. Grandpa hasn't seen humans in a long time so you might scare him if you go in alone."

Jackie nodded silently. Freddy stepped into the kitchen and turned on the lights. Only one turned on and it shined over an old, tattered, golden animatronic suit with its back facing the door.

"Uh, hello? Grandpa Fredbear? It's me, Freddy. We need to ask you a question."

Jackie stared at the aged robot in confusion.

"That's Golden Fredbear? But what happened to him?"

"He's decommissioned." Bonnie explained. "Has been since the first Freddy Fazbear's closed down. They took out his eyeballs and endoskeleton, so he can't move around like the rest of us can."

Chica nodded. "Yes. That's why he has to stay in this room all the time. Luckily, he managed to disable the security cameras in here, so the guards won't be able to find him."

"But, where does he go during the day?" Jackie asked.

"We've asked him that question too." Bonnie answered. "But he never tells us."

"Come to think of it, I don't know how he even got into this room in the first place!" Chica recalled.

"Um…hello? Grandpa Fredbear?" Freddy repeated. "Can you hear me?"

"…Freddy my child…" a deep, ominous voice came from the pile of golden scrap. "I've been expecting you."

"You have, Grandpa Fredbear?"

"I see you've brought friends as well."

Jackie gasped quietly. "How did he know that? I thought he had no eyeballs! He's not even looking at us!"

"Tis another mystery about that landlubber we can't seem to solve." Foxy noted.

"Grandpa, listen. We've been having some trouble with a couple of animatronic suits and we were just wondering-"

"Silence!" Golden Fredbear ordered causing everyone to yelp. "I know very well why you have come to me. I am prepared to assist you with my knowledge. But first, I must ask one favor of you."

"What's that Grandpa Fredbear?" Freddy asked.

"Come a little closer."

Jackie and the animatronics did as the elder robot told them and took one step toward him.

"Closer…"

They took another step.

"Closer…"

The five continued to tread toward Golden Fredbear until they were all standing beside him. Then after a few seconds of pure silence, the golden animatronic turned around and let out a blood-curdling roar.

"AAAAAAAA!" the others screamed in absolute terror.

Golden Fredbear laughed hysterically.

"Grandpa!" Freddy scolded.

"Hee, hee, hee! You should have seen the looks on your faces! You whippersnappers fall for that trick every time! Hee, hee, hee!"

"Yeah…very funny." Bonnie rolled his eyes. "Will you just help us already?"

"All right! All right! Sheesh, you kids are always rushing us old folk, ain't ya? Just gimme a second to think and I'll-" That's when Golden Fredbear noticed Jackie hiding behind Bonnie and Chica. "Say, what's that thing standing behind you youngins?"

Bonnie and Chica stepped aside so Golden Fredbear could get a look at Jackie.

"Well I'll be! It's a human girl!" he chuckled. "Why, I haven't seen one of your kind in over 35 years! Well, at least not face-to-face. Eh, step forward my dear."

Jackie did so nervously.

"Now, what is it that I, the great Golden Freddy, can do for you?"

"Well you see Mr. Golden Fredbear sir, your grandson and his friends stuffed my band in those newer animatronic suits and-"

Golden Fredbear burst out laughing.

"Hee, hee, hee! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! My hearing ain't what it used to be. For a minute there, I thought you said that my grandson, the bear I put my trust in to running this place, stuffed your band into a couple of animatronic suits that would later take over as the restaurant's new leaders! Ha, ha, ha!"

Jackie chuckled. "Yeah…heh, heh…funny…except that's pretty much what I just said…"

Golden Fredbear stopped laughing. The dark spots where his eyes used to be turned narrow.

"Oh boy…" Bonnie muttered.

"WHAT?!" Fredbear yelled. "You fools! Do you know what you've done?! You've doomed all of us!"

"But how Grandpa Fredbear?" Freddy asked. "I mean, sure they're a little bent on rules and they're kinda rough on anyone that breaks them, but I wouldn't say we're doomed."

"Don't you understand?! Those suits are controlling those kids' minds! This is only the first stage of cerebral take over! All the abuse they've been putting you through is nothing compared to what's about to happen next!"

"Why? Wh-wh-what happens next Mr. Golden Fredbear?" Jackie inquired.

"Oh it ain't nothing good dearie! If them whippersnappers stay in those suits for one night longer, they'll never want to go back to their original bodies! Not only that, they'll go so far as wanting to completely destroy anyone who breaks the rules! And since you snuck in after hours, they'll probably want to destroy you first!" Fredbear pointed at Jackie.

"Me?!" Jackie panicked. "But-but they wouldn't try to destroy me! They're my friends!"

"Sure, when they're outside the suits! But inside them? They're your worst nightmare."

"But…but there's gotta be a way to get them out of the suits! Isn't there?"

"Hm…well, there is one way…"

"What?!" Jackie grabbed the elderly robot by his shoulders. "What is it? Tell me!"

"I remember back in 1983 when something similar to this happened. A bunch of bullies shoved a young boy into one of the suits and it changed his good nature into one of pure evil. Soon, he started abusing me and my old pal Golden Bonnie whenever he caught us breaking any of the rules. Which is one of the reasons why I'm in such bad shape. But luckily, the two of us managed to free his body and soul and return his good nature."

"How?" Jackie asked.

"By using the most powerful and most magical element of all creation…music!"

"Huh…I guess I should have seen that coming." Jackie noted. "So what you're saying is, if we perform a really powerful song, Grojband will be freed from the animatronic suits?"

"Dear, we just met so there really isn't much I know about you. But one thing I can say is one of your talents must be reading between the lines." Golden Fredbear winked.

Jackie smiled a little bit as she and the other four animatronics left the kitchen.

"You've gotta be kidding! Us? Sing a really powerful song?" Freddy recapped. "That's it. We're toast."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Jackie questioned. "Singing isn't that hard! Besides, don't you guys sing all the time?"

"Nope." Bonnie answered. "All those songs we've sung in the past were just recordings. As in, they were performed by real people and entered into our programming so we could perform them for the kids. So we're not really singing or playing anything. We're just pretending to play our instruments and moving our lips to the words of the songs. That's it. Nothing else."

Jackie was astonished. "But, surely you still know how to play, right?"

"Not really…" Chica replied. "I mean, we have written a song or two of our own, but we just don't have the confidence to actually play them. We're sure they'll sound wrong no matter what!"

"Exactly!" Freddy continued. "Because we're only good at pretending to play rather than actually playing."

"Yep! Guess that settles it." Bonnie turned to leave with the others. "It's been nice knowing you kid."

"Wait!" Jackie stopped the robots before they had a chance to walk away. "We're so close to solving this problem! You guys can't give up now!"

"What other option do we have?" Freddy asked her.

"Listen, when I started managing Grojband, I didn't think I was going to get very far. I thought that I would crack under pressure from all the hard work or end up being so bad at the job that I would lose my mind and quit. A voice in the back of my head kept saying 'Jackie! You can't do it! You're too weak! You're not meant for this job! You won't last a day as a band manager! You may as well quit while you're ahead and forget this whole thing ever happened!' The voice kept repeating itself for about a week until one day, I tuned it out for good. You know why? Because while I was working with Grojband, I discovered that I had a knack for managing and organizing! The talent was inside me the whole time! I just didn't realize it because I was convinced that management wasn't my thing. But that didn't stop me from trying! And just because you four have never played an actual note on your instruments, doesn't mean you'll never be able to play them! You never know! Music might be one of your hidden talents! No! It is one of your hidden talents! I know it is! You just have to believe in yourselves! C'mon! Who's with me?!"

Freddy and the others took a minute to reflect on Jackie's speech. The words entered their robotic minds and repeated themselves over and over again. Then, for the first time ever, they all gained a new kind of hope. The four of them glanced at each other and smiled. Then they, along with Jackie, joined hands and chanted in unison.

"Let's do it!"

Foxy lifted his hook hand. "But wait! There still be a problem! We can _play _our song, but how are we supposed to sing it? We don't have any lyrics!"

Jackie scoffed. "No problem! I've dealt with this loads of times! Huddle up gang! I've got a crazy plan that just might work…"

The animal animatronics leaned in and Jackie whispered her plan to them.

**WHISPER! WHISPER! WHISPER!**

Around midnight was when Jackie's plan was set in motion. The older animatronics had trapped the newer animatronics in the safe room by luring them in with a naked endoskeleton. Jackie looked out the window and saw a car pulling into the parking lot.

"Target in sight!" she told the others. "Take your positions guys!"

The car door opened and out came two teenaged girls that we've known since this fanfic got itself started.

"He texted me Macy! Rick Salary texted me! And he said he wanted to meet me here for a kissing session!" Tracy squealed.

"Gee, I'm not so sure about this Tracy." Macy responded. "Why would a cute guy like Rick hang out in a dirty old place like this? Besides, this is where those scary puppet things live. And aren't you afraid of puppets?"

Tracy grabbed Macy by the collar.

"Puppets? Puppets?! Macy! We're talking about hunky Rick Salary! For him, I'd go through a hundred of those creepy things!"

The dark-haired girl ran through the front doors and began searching for the love of her life.

"Rick! Rick, I'm here! Where are you my dreamboat? You can't hide from me! I know you're out there somewhere!"

Just then, Tracy bumped into something in the dark.

"Ah! There you are hot stuff! Playing hard-to-get I see? That's totally adorable! Look! I brought both strawberry and cherry flavored lip gloss! Which one do you wanna try first?"

But when the figure turned around and revealed its light blue eyes, Tracy realized that these particular blue eyes didn't belong to her crush, Rick Salary. Instead they belonged to a big and brown animatronic bear named Freddy Fazbear.

Tracy gasped and dropped both containers of lip gloss on the floor.

"Hm, I don't know." Freddy answered Tracy's previous question. "Personally, I think you would taste better without any of those fancy seasonings."

Tracy backed away from Freddy and accidentally bumped into Bonnie.

"Hey! Look who came to dinner!" he said.

Tracy took another step back and hit Chica.

"Ooh! Just look at that tasty flesh!" she observed while grabbing Tracy by the arms. "Let's eat!"

"Ahoy there lads!" Foxy came forward. "Would you like me to do the honor of…carving?!"

When Tracy saw Foxy's sharp hook hand, she let out a high-pitched scream.

"No! Stay away from me!"

Quickly, she escaped Chica's grasp, ran down the east hallway, and dove into the kitchen. There, she met another dark and mysterious-looking figure.

"Rick! At last!" she panted. "You have to help me! Those freaky puppets are trying to eat me! Teach them a lesson and beat them up or whatevs!"

"Oh gee, I would dearie, but I haven't used these muscles since 1983!" Golden Fredbear revealed himself and laughed.

Tracy shrieked as the other four animatronics entered.

"Well, it's about time you kids showed up!" Golden Fredbear complained. "It's bad manners to keep an old bear waiting for his meal, you know! So, what sort of chow did you bring me this time?"

"Oh, it's your favorite Grandpa!" Freddy reassured him. "Stuck-up teenage brat!"

All five robots laughed maniacally as they surrounded a terrified Tracy.

"AAAAAA! SCARY PUPPETS!" she screamed before entering her Fear Diary Mode for the second time in this whole fanfic. The heads of the five main animatronics floated around her. She summoned her diary and pen and wrote green flames across the pages. Clouds formed above the restaurant and lightning struck from above. Tracy held out her flaming pen, and when it burned out, she returned to normal and fell unconscious.

Freddy stood next to Jackie. "Well, um…that sure was interesting. But I still don't see how we're going to get lyrics."

Jackie just smiled, held her hand out, and caught the falling diary.

"Ta-da!"

"What is it?" Bonnie questioned.

"The answer to all of our problems!" Jackie opened the diary to its latest entry. "Check it out!"

The animatronics glanced at the pages in awe.

"Wow! This stuff is perfect!" Freddy observed.

"We can totally use this for our song!" Chica cried.

"I'll say!" Bonnie agreed.

"Not bad." Foxy nodded. "Not bad at all."

"Hey! Not so fast!" a voice yelled from the door.

Jackie and the animatronics turned around and saw the newer robots standing behind them. And they looked pretty angry.

"You're all going to pay for locking us in that safe room!" the new Bonnie threatened.

"Yeah! It's about time we taught you has-beens a lesson! What are we gonna do to em this time Freddy?" asked the new Chica.

"I'll tell you what we're gonna do! Freddy bots? Destroy!"

The eyes on all four of the newer animatronics turned bright red.

"Oh no!" Freddy worried. "It's just like Grandpa Fredbear said! Their minds have been fully corrupted and now they're going to get rid of us!"

"Don't worry!" Jackie told him. "We can still do this!"

"Any last words inferior droids?"

"Yes." Jackie pulled out a microphone. "But we'll only tell you if we get to sing em! Hit it!"

The older animatronics grabbed their instruments and for the first time ever, they actually played them.

**(Original Song: The Show Must Go On by MandoPony)**

_Jackie: Ooh, la, la, la_

_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la_

_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la_

_Ooh, la, la, la_

_Foxy: One, two, three, four!_

_Jackie: There was a full moon in the sky_

_We met some brand new robot friends_

_At first they seemed a little shy_

_They would not play pretend_

_They sang just fine and played in time_

_But did not look the part_

_So we lovingly decided_

_To give them a brand new start_

_All: No matter what we say or do_

_It's never up to me or you_

_We smile now and sing a cheer_

_The show must go on_

_The show must go on_

_Never fear_

_The show will go on_

The newer Freddy came upon a realization as Bonnie performed a keyboard solo.

"Hey! Wait a minute! This song isn't part of your programming! And you're not supposed to play your instruments either! C'mon guys! Let's tear em apart!"

Jackie kept singing even as the newer animatronics drew closer.

_Jackie: We removed their squishy casings_

_To keep their circuits safe and sound_

_And ended up replacing them _

_With scraps that we had found_

_But what a shame a crying shame_

_Our friends were in a world of pain_

_Oh we tried to fix them up_

_But it was all in vain_

_All: No matter what we say or do_

_It's never up to me or you_

_We smile now and sing a cheer_

_The show must go on_

_The show must go on_

_Never fear_

_The show will go on_

_We just don't know what went wrong_

_We tried to get along_

_But our new robot friends' power faded_

_We did our best to fix our guests_

_We hated to see them so distressed_

_We said farewell and had them terminated_

Freddy started playing an incredible guitar riff, causing the evil robots to back off.

"Argh!" new Freddy grunted. "What are you all waiting for?! Get them already!"

"It's too strong!" new Chica wailed.

"Make it stop!" new Foxy grabbed his ears.

_Jackie: Every toy eventually breaks_

_Every battery fades and drains_

_Even the tiniest little mistakes_

_Can leave behind the messiest stains_

_We know that we'll be all right_

_Although they didn't survive the night_

_Through the pain and through the tears_

_All: The show goes on for years and years_

_No matter what we say or do_

_It's never up to me or you_

_We smile now and sing a cheer_

_The show must go on_

_The show must go on_

_Never fear_

_The show will go on!_

When Freddy strummed the final chord on his guitar, the newer animatronics began to deteriorate.

"NOOOOO!" they screamed.

"Duck and cover!" Jackie warned.

They all ducked behind the kitchen counter as a bright light emerged from the enemy robots. It got brighter and brighter and brighter until…

**KA-BOOM!**

The parts of the four animatronics spread out over the entire kitchen. Some of them landed on the counter, others fell near the stove, but most of them hit the floor. The newer Freddy's top hat fell into the older Freddy's right hand. Once the smoke cleared, Jackie and the others came out of hiding. Freddy took a look at the top hat in his hand.

"We…we did it! We actually did it! We played our instruments the right way and sang a song without having to lip-synch! It's like we had the power within us the whole time! And now, thanks to our musical ability, we don't have to worry about those bossy buckets of bolts anymore! We're free gang! Free!"

"Hooray!" Bonnie, Foxy, and Chica cheered.

"Thanks a bunch Jackie!" Freddy gave the brown-haired manager a friendly noogie. "If it wasn't for you, we'd still be stuck in that utility closet living on lint and dust!"

"We were so lucky to meet a kind and sincere human like you!" Chica went on.

"Not to mention heroic!" Foxy commented. "In fact, you're more heroic than yours truly! And that be saying something!"

Jackie giggled. "Gee, thanks guys."

"Hey! Look!" Bonnie pointed to the other side of the kitchen where four bodies were lying on the floor unconscious. These bodies, believe it or not, belonged to Jackie's band, Grojband.

Jackie stepped out from behind the counter and approached her friends' bodies slowly. The animatronics watched in anticipation as the brunette bent down and gently shook the band awake.

"Guys? Guys, wake up!"

Corey's eyes opened and he sat up, holding his head.

"Ugh…what happened?"

"You guys okay?"

Corey looked up as the other three band members regained consciousness as well.

"Wait, Jackie?" Corey looked at his hands. "Hey! Where are my paws? Where's my thick brown fur? And what happened to my hat?"

"You mean this hat?" Jackie handed the blue-haired kid his beanie.

"Hey! I was wondering where that went!" Corey put his beanie back on.

"Core!" Laney stood up. "We're alive! We're not robots anymore!"

"…Of course! It's all coming back to me now! We were being chased by a bunch of killer animatronics and then they stuffed us inside some freaky costumes! I don't remember much about what happened after that though."

"Yeah, all I remember was not having both of my hands." Kon recalled while looking at his hands. "Hey Kin? Do you remember anything?"

Kin was facing the opposite direction.

"What? Who said that? Kon? Is that you? Where'd you go?"

Jackie smirked for she knew what the problem was. She turned the keyboardist's head around and put his glasses back over his eyes. As soon as he could see again, Kin gasped and hugged Jackie tightly.

"Jackie! Oh, I'm so glad to see you! It was horrible! There were these terrifying monsters trying to make us just like them! They chased us through the whole restaurant and we had to hide in a security office! We tried calling you so you could come save us, but you never answered!"

Jackie hugged Kin back. "I know Kin. And I'm really sorry that I didn't. It'll never happen again. I'm so glad you guys are safe."

Corey, Laney, and Kon joined in on the hug. Freddy and the gang couldn't help but smile at the scene.

"Glad you got your band back Jackie." he said.

As soon as Grojband got a glimpse of the four, they screamed and hid behind their manager.

"It's them!" Corey yelped. "It's the robots who tried to kill us!"

"Keep em away Jackie!" Kin begged. "Keep em away!"

"Guys! Calm down! It's cool." Jackie reassured them. "They're not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, don't worry. That whole 'death and destruction' thing was just a glitch in our program. It's all fixed now."

"We never meant to hurt you." Chica nodded. "And we felt terrible about what we did."

"Which is why we saved you by breaking you out of the suits we stuffed you in." Bonnie finished.

"Whoa, whoa!" Corey interrupted. "You saved us?"

"Well, to tell the truth it wasn't just us." Foxy explained. "In fact, it was mostly her idea."

Grojband looked at Jackie, who blushed a little.

"Aw shucks, it was nothing really. I just wanted to help my band out and make sure they came home safe and sound. After all, you guys mean everything to me."

Corey smiled. "Really? Aw, thanks Jacks."

The others agreed.

"Yeah, thanks."

"You're the greatest."

"We'll always be here for you Jackie."

The five of them hugged each other one more time. Then, all of a sudden, they heard somebody groan loudly. The groaning was coming from Tracy, who had just woken up from her Diary Mode.

"Ugh…like, where am I? What's going on?" Tracy rubbed her eyes and her vision slowly returned. As soon as she saw that Grojband was alive and well, she was infuriated.

"What?! Grojband is alive?! No! That can't be right! I destroyed them! They're supposed to be dead! Gone! Finished! Kaput!" Tracy pointed at Freddy and his friends. "You! Creepy puppet things! You had one job! And that job was to eliminate those geeks! So hurry up and do it! NOW!"

Freddy glanced at Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy and they all made a silent agreement. Then Bonnie and Chica picked up Tracy and carried her to the front doors of the restaurant.

"Wait, what are you doing? Put me down you annoying androids! I'm your master! I reprogrammed you, remember? You have to do what I say!"

Bonnie and Chica proceeded to take the loudmouth teenager outside and throw her into the dumpster.

Freddy went back to Grojband. "So yeah…anyway, real sorry we tried to kill you and all. You forgive us, don't you?"

Corey pretended to think. "Gee, I don't know. I mean, because of you we almost got stuck being robots for the rest of our lives. Not sure we're ready to forgive you."

"We'll make sure you get free pizza for a whole month!" Freddy promised.

"Deal!" Corey shook his hand.

And after that, things were pretty much back to normal. Jackie got her band back, Freddy and his friends were the stars of the pizzeria again, and Tracy received the punishment she had very much deserved. A few days later, Jackie and Grojband decided to return to the restaurant to watch their new friends play a show. Fazbear Billy came up to their table and served them an extra-large pizza.

"Here you go kids! On the house!"

"Gee, I hope that 'free food' spell Golden Fredbear put on Billy isn't permanent." Laney said.

"How did an old tattered bear animatronic learn sorcery like that anyway?" Kin asked.

"Who cares?! Free pizza for a month!" Kon cheered before eating a slice.

"Hey there kids!" Freddy announced. "It's me! Your old pal Freddy Fazbear! Who's ready for an amazing show tonight?

"We are!" the kids replied.

"Boy do we have a real treat for you tonight kids! Because tonight, we've prepared a ton of brand new, original, unheard songs just for you! So if you wanna hear em, let me hear you scream!"

Everyone, including Jackie and Grojband screamed very loudly.

"Okay then! It's showtime!"

Foxy hit his drumsticks together four times and they all started playing. Golden Fredbear was watching the show on the camera in the security office. The security guard was tied up and gagged in the corner.

"Hee, hee!" Golden Fredbear chuckled. "That's my grandson!"

Jackie put her arms around all of her best friends as they listened to the animatronics' new song. While he was singing, Freddy looked over at Jackie and winked at her. She returned the gesture with a warm smile.

Things were never the same at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza after these events. From that point on, it was known as a place of joy and entertainment; exactly how it should have been known. Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy continued to sing their own songs to children young and old and never again did they think to stuff their bodes into animatronic suits. After all, who says that robots have to be scary anyway?

* * *

**It's official guys. We are now HALFWAY through this entire fanfic. That's right. There are 55 chapters out now and there are only 55 left to go. 15 of these chapters are reserved for episodes so if we do the math on this one, that leaves room for 40 chapters with original scenarios. That's enough to satisfy you guys, right ;)? So for the rest of this fic, I will be putting up how many original scenarios are left in the author's notes of each chapter. Obviously there isn't anything to worry about now since there are plenty of slots available, but I still want you all to pay attention to how many are left because I will only be accepting the first 40 original scenarios I see (as long as I believe they are doable). Meaning if you are the 41st person to give me a scenario, then you are out of luck because by then the story will be almost over. So if you have an idea that you really, really want me to do, send it to me ASAP! But enough about that. It's time once again for me to unveil another one of my top 10 Dethroning Moments of Grojband.**

**#8: Today, I'd like to talk about the episode "Group Hug" which was, in my opinion, the absolute low point for Kate and Allie. Near the beginning of the series, we knew Kate and Allie as the two adorable (but somewhat weird) groupies of Grojband who were always loyal to them and would do anything to help them out. But this particular episode made them seem more like enemies than friends. Basically the whole plot of the episode is that Kate and Allie kidnap Corey and force him to write a song for them. But since Corey can't write lyrics without Trina's diary, he's stuck at their place. The other band members arrive to save him but they are taken prisoner as well and even get tied up and gagged. Sure, kidnapping the band was already bad, but I think the worst moment lies near the end of the episode. Even after Grojband gets lyrics from Trina's diary and sings a song for the groupies, they STILL won't let them go. They're pretty much treating the band like their own personal toys by keeping them in their garage and forcing them to play music for the both of them. Not cool Kate and Allie. Not cool. **

**Well, that's all I have for you today. Make sure to leave me some episodes/original ideas in your reviews and I'll see you next time!**


	56. Saxophone Home

**So here's another episode chapter I just finished today. It's based on the episode "Saxsquatch" which was suggested to me by TheRegularGrojBandZ. But before we begin, I would just like to remind everybody about the episodes that need to be saved for last, because people are still requesting them. They are:**

**Kon-Fusion**

**It's In the Card**

**Curse of the Metrognome**

**Hear Us Rock!**

**I will do these episodes eventually. In the meantime, please, please, PLEASE stop requesting them. Okay, now you can read Chapter 56. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 56**

**Saxophone Home**

"Howling Heights Mountain." Destiny Providence narrated on the news. "So named for its occasional howling and its constant heights."

"And now, it has given local kid in a band, Corey Riffin, a death wish!" Buster Newsworthy handed his mic over to Corey.

"That's right Buster!" Corey said. "Instead of a sad, windy moan, Tranquil Town's gonna hear wicked rock music blasting down from the highest point on earth!"

"And how do you respond to people who say that you five kids who have never climbed a mountain are pretty much doomed?" Destiny asked.

"I say the 'Rock Top, Rock n Roll, Rocking On Top of the Rock' event is gonna rock your worlds!" Corey dropped his mic and stepped offscreen.

"And so begins the Grojband death watch!" Buster reported. "More at six!"

Jackie turned off the TV in the garage.

"Core, please don't tell me you're making us climb that mountain." she said.

"I'm making you climb that mountain!" Corey replied. "No band's ever done that!"

"No human band." Kin explained. "But legend has it…"

"Howling Heights was home to the greatest sasquatch band ever!" Kon finished.

"A sasquatch band?" Jackie repeated. "Really?"

"Oh absolutely!" Kin blushed slightly. "Um, would you like to hear about it Jackie?"

"You bet I would!"

Kin turned even redder and he giggled. Kon rolled his eyes, lifted up Kin's hand, and high-fived it.

"The Walking Carpets owned the sasquatch music scene playing the hottest frozen peaks of the world!"

"This was way back when saxophone was cool and not super cheesy."

"But, they were buried in an avalanche on Howling Heights forever…"

"Or until they died. Either way, they were totally lost up there! And now, the ghost of their sax player moans with the blowing wind!"

"See Corey? That's just another reason why we shouldn't climb that mountain!" Jackie told the singer. "I don't wanna run into any…" she shuddered. "…ghosts…"

"C'mon Jacks! It'll be fun!" Corey persuaded. "Besides, our awesome tunes will scare all the ghosts away!"

"I don't know…"

"Don't worry Jackie." Kin squeezed the manager's waist. "I'll protect you from those nasty ghosts. They won't hurt you as long as I'm around."

"Yeah, cause they'll be too busy laughing at the idea of Kin actually beating them in a fight." Kon remarked.

Kin glared.

Meanwhile, in Tracy's room, Tracy was making Macy organize her pictures of Rick.

"So in this one, Rick's hair looks silky, so it goes near the top." Tracy instructed. "And this one looks morning fresh, so it should go near the middle."

Macy looked at one of the pictures.

"Wow, you really like Rick's hair."

"Because it's…EPIC!" Tracy screamed. "Plus, I love everything about Rick."

"But you've tried liking lots of stuff he likes." Macy gestured towards a pile of sports equipment.

"That won't stop you from helping me to try! I don't care how hard it is!"

The teen kicked a ball against the wall and it bounced back and hit Macy in the face.

**RICK LIKES WHEN YOU TRY THINGS!**

Back in the garage, Jackie and Grojband were packing up their gear for the trip. Kelsey and Alyssa had volunteered to carry all of their things up the mountain. Kin threw another pickaxe into the gigantic backpack Alyssa was hauling on her back.

"All done!"

"I can't wait to see a ghost sasquatch!" Kon clapped his hands excitedly.

Jackie noticed how uncomfortable the two groupies looked.

"That's a lot of stuff to carry." she observed. "You girls sure you can handle it?"

"Totally!" Kelsey squealed.

"Don't worry about us Jackie!" Alyssa reassured the brunette. "If carrying your equipment all the way up Howling Heights is what it takes to make Grojband like us, we'll do it!"

Jackie shrugged. "Well, okay."

"We'll be at the top of Howling Heights before you can say 'AAA! My feet are frozen!'" Corey claimed. "Then, we'll blast our music and cover the whole town!"

Tracy and Macy were listening in the whole time.

"What?! I'm so not going to let their lame music rain down from the sky!"

"Well, climbing a mountain is pretty dangerous. Maybe they'll fall off."

Tracy smiled evilly. "Huh, maybe they will. Tanks for the idea Macy. Tanks a lot! Hee, hee, hee!"

About an hour later, the band was still making their way up Howling Heights. Snow was pouring down like crazy.

"So c-c-cold!" Kon whined.

"C'mon guys!" Corey called. "You don't hear our groupies complaining!"

"Maybe that's because their faces are totally frozen and they can't talk!" Laney yelled.

Kelsey and Alyssa nodded through chattering teeth.

Jackie shivered. "Figures the one thing we forgot to pack was warm clothing…"

Kin noticed how cold Jackie was and got worried. Quickly, he removed his shirt and offered it to his crush.

"Here Jackie. Put this on. It'll keep you warm."

Jackie took the shirt but she didn't put it on just yet.

"But Kin, if I wear your shirt, then you're going to freeze! I couldn't ask you to give it up."

Jackie handed the shirt back to Kin but he gently pushed her hand away.

"It's okay. You need it more than I do. And I'd rather let myself freeze than let you freeze."

"But your shirt is way too small! There's no way I'll even fit into-"

"Shh…" Kin pressed a finger to Jackie's lips. "You'll be fine. Just take it. I insist."

Jackie sighed and figuring there was no point in arguing, she pulled the shirt over her head. She was right about it being too small because no matter how hard she pulled on it, it would only go as low as her belly button. It did, however, make her feel a bit warmer. She looked behind her and saw Kin shivering hard.

"Kin, are you sure you're okay with this?" she asked. "After all, I don't want you to get sick."

"Sick? Me?" Kin scoffed. "No way! I won't get sick! Especially not from a dumb snow storm! In fact, I say let the storm rage on! The cold never bothered me anyway."

"If I keep the shirt on, will you promise not to make any more references to that overplayed show tune?"

"Whatever you say Jackie." Kin promised before shivering again.

Eventually, the seven of them made it to the top of the mountain. Corey set up the microphone and spoke into it.

"Are you ready to make rock and roll history Tranquil Town?!" the happy blue-haired kid pointed the mic outward as if he expected a response from somewhere.

Laney stepped forward. "You do realize we don't have any lyrics yet."

"No prob Lanes! We'll get some when we climb down after rehearsal!"

Laney took a moment to process this.

"…Rehearsal? We have to climb the mountain again?! We almost died! Like ten times!"

"I counted nine." Kin recalled.

**CRASH!**

A giant icicle came down and destroyed Kon's drums.

"You forgot the giant icicle spear…" Kon shuddered.

Tracy was watching the group through her binoculars.

"This is gonna be fun!" she told herself. "MACY! TOTALLY DO THE TANK THING NOW!"

Macy was sitting in a huge tank.

"Hee, hee! I so get your 'tanks' joke now Tracy!"

The nerdette pressed a button and fired a cannonball at the mountain.

Kon looked over at Kin who was turning blue and still shivering.

"You okay bro? You don't look so good."

"W-W-What are you t-t-talking about? I'm f-f-fine!" Kin insisted while putting on a fake smile. "See? C-c-couldn't be better!"

Kon wasn't convinced. "Yeah, sure. Tell me, if you're so fine, then how come you've got icicles coming out of your nose?"

"What? Frozen nose drippings aren't natural to you? Seriously Kon, you need to get out more."

Corey, meanwhile, was being stared down by Jackie and Laney.

"Look, we've all got climbing experience now!" he defended himself. "There's no way we'll die half as much on the way back up!"

Jackie and Laney were about to give Corey the scolding of a lifetime when they saw Macy's cannonball fly over them and hit the mountain. This caused the mountain to shake and then a huge pile of snow fell on top of the friends. Tracy gasped when she saw this.

"You missed them! Bad Macy!"

Jackie and the band would have died right then and there, but luckily, a tall and furry creature pulled them out of the snow and took them back to its cave.

When the five woke up a little later, they had no idea where they had ended up. All they knew was that the place they were in now was a lot warmer than where they had been before.

Just then, a shadow appeared over them and they all screamed when they found out that the shadow belonged to a yeti!

"Hello." the yeti smiled and waved slightly. "I'm Harry. Welcome to my cave."

Jackie didn't even bother questioning how this particular yeti was able to talk since she just recently had an encounter with a bunch of kooky animatronic animals. The yeti seemed friendly anyway, so she smiled and said:

"Hi Harry. I'm Jackie and this is my band, Grojband. They were trying to rehearse up here but obviously, it didn't go too well…" she gave Corey a glare.

"You're a band? I was in a band!" Harry pointed to a picture on the wall of his cave. The picture was of him and three other yetis.

Kon was in awe. "Were you in the Walking Carpets?!"

"Oh yeah, but that was a long time ago." Harry explained. "I played saxophone."

"But the sax player's the one that got them buried alive and now we hear their ghostly moans on the wind!" Kin explained back.

"What? No man, that's just me jamming."

"Oh, a non-ghost saxsquatch…that's cool I guess…" Kin sniffled for his nose was starting to run a bit.

"So Harry, where's the rest of your band?" Jackie asked.

"Oh, I have no idea. They kicked me out a couple of years ago. They were jealous because I got all the ladies."

Kon rubbed his head against Harry's chest. "Your fur is pretty luxurious. I'd be jealous too."

"No, this is how I got the ladies." Harry pulled out his saxophone and started playing.

Grojband cringed in disgust. Jackie grabbed one end of the sax and gently pulled it out of Harry's mouth.

"Heh, heh! Uh, say Harry? My band's going to be playing a song here later today. Would you…like to come and listen to it?"

"Wow, really?"

"Why not?" Kin responded while the others nodded. "I've always wanted to hang out with a real sasquatch!"

The keyboardist then got into the yeti's face and glared.

"But first, let's get something straight! The one with the brown hair is mine! As in, you can't have her! I don't care how good you are with the ladies! That there is one lady you're not going to get your hairy paws on! So if I catch you even touching her, I'll…I'll…"

Just as Kin was about to finish his verbal threat, he sneezed.

"Ugh…excuse me." he sniffed. "Anyway, lay one hand on her and I'll-"

He sneezed again, this time catching the attention of Jackie.

"Kin? Are you okay?" she put a hand on her keyboardist's shoulder.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry!" Harry apologized. "My hair sheds sometimes and people usually have bad reactions to it."

Jackie helped Kin keep his balance.

"Oh no! It's okay Harry. It's not you. We were out in that freezing weather for a while and Kin didn't have a shirt on, so he's probably just getting a cold."

Kin's eyes widened at this statement.

"A cold? Oh Jackie, don't be silly! I told you I don't get-" he sneezed. "-sick…"

"You sure about that dude?" Corey questioned. "Your face is kinda red."

"You stay out of this Corey!" Kin demanded. "Anyway Jackie, I can't be sick because if I was, we wouldn't be able to do the show. And I don't wanna be the one who gets our gig cancelled." he coughed harshly.

"Oh Kin, you don't have to feel bad. It's not your fault you got sick."

"Although it would have helped if you had just kept your shirt on like a smart person." Kon reminded him which provoked Laney to punch him in the arm. "Ow!"

"You guys worry too much. I'm perfectly fine. Now c'mon, let's get back to the garage so we can…" Kin held his head for he was starting to feel dizzy. "Whoa…look at all the pretty colors…" he looked over at Harry. "Hey…you're a cool-looking flamingo…aren't your feathers supposed to be blue though? Because then they would match those orange flowers growing out of your toes…hey is it getting hot in here?"

The kid in glasses began to stumble and Jackie caught him before he hit the ground.

"Kin!" she put a hand over his forehead. "He's burning up! Harry, I'm so sorry but it looks like there isn't going to be a show after all. Kin needs to go home and rest."

Laney and Kon weren't too disappointed with this news because it meant they wouldn't have to climb the mountain a second time, but Corey was devastated.

"What?! We can't cancel the show!"

"Core, there's nothing we can do. Kin is way too sick to perform and you guys can't do your song if only three people are playing it."

Kin reached his hand out toward Jackie's face.

"Is that you Grandma?" he muttered weakly. "You get younger every time I see you…"

Jackie ran a hand through his hair in sympathy. "Poor little thing…"

"Hey uh, Jackie?" Harry interrupted. "I was just wondering uh…if you want, maybe I could take Kin's place."

Jackie was surprised by this offer. "Oh, well I, uh…"

"Hey! That's a great idea!" Corey cried. "Why don't you come to our garage and rehearse with us?"

Laney pulled Corey aside.

"Um, Core? He's a sasquatch. And a sax player."

"Lanes, if we bring this thing home and scare Tracy with all its saxxy hairiness, she'll sprint in a diary mode and we'll have our lyrics! Besides, he can help us climb back up! It's a win-win idea!"

"Not quite. He'll still have to play with us!" Laney gagged.

"Don't worry! I'm sure by the time we get back home, Kin will be feeling better!"

**WICKED COLD TRANSITION!**

When the gang got home, Jackie laid Kin down on the couch, covered him up with a blanket, and stuck a thermometer in his mouth.

"Grandma? Was the circus always this crowded?" he asked deliriously. "When are we gonna see the moth man eat a magic spoon?"

Jackie examined the reading on the thermometer and looked over at Corey and Laney.

"He's definitely getting worse."

Laney gave Corey an angry look and he smiled sheepishly.

Then Tracy and Macy entered the scene.

"Oh. You're alive." Tracy grumped. "I thought you'd be snow angels by now."

Jackie shrugged. "We did have a little trouble climbing up Howling Heights. Kin even managed to catch a cold."

Tracy smiled and poked Kin's nose. "Aww, too bad! Guess that means you can't play that stupid gig of yours now, huh?"

Kin sneezed all over Tracy's hand.

"Eww!" Tracy shrieked. "Nerd germs!"

"Oh, don't worry about the gig. Because we found somebody to play in Kin's place." Jackie gestured to the garage door.

Tracy looked to where Jackie was pointing and when she saw Harry standing outside, she went wide-eyed.

"Hey there!" Harry greeted.

"Is that a bigfoot?" Tracy whispered.

Jackie nodded.

"It's diary time!" Corey quietly said to Laney.

Harry took out his sax and started playing a slow, jazzy tune. Tracy just stared at him with big eyes.

"Tracy?" Macy was concerned.

The black-haired girl felt her heart beat rapidly. For the first time ever, she had completely forgotten about Rick Salary. She ran up to the sasquatch and pressed her face into his belly.

"Your hair! It's so cool! And those tunes are even cooler!" she forced Harry's hand. "We're dating now."

Harry just chuckled nervously and went along with her. "Don't hold it against me guys."

"Uh, Tracy!" Macy followed the two out of the garage.

"Well, that didn't work." Laney noted.

"Relax Lanes!" Corey remained calm. "It can't not work forever!"

"I'm not so sure about that Corey." Jackie replied. "C'mon! Let's follow em!"

So Jackie, Corey, and Laney followed Tracy and Harry and they ended up at a fancy restaurant. The three watched as the evil adolescent and her big, hairy date stared into each other's eyes. Harry handed Tracy a bouquet of bee-ridden flowers which Tracy promptly shoved in Macy's face. Macy screamed and ran in fear. Next, the gang watched Harry and Tracy have a picnic in the park. As Macy fanned the two lovers, Harry reached into his fur and pulled out several plates of food. He piled all of them around Tracy until she was practically buried in a three-course meal. She eventually found her way out from under all of the food and continued to stare into Harry's eyes. After that, the couple went home and watched a romantic movie. Tears formed in Tracy's eyes and she used Harry's fur to blow her nose.

"Wow, I always said that the only one who could ever love Tracy was a monster." Jackie told Corey and Laney.

"At this rate, we're never gonna get those lyrics!" Laney added.

A little while later, Tracy was back in her room, hugging a picture of her new boyfriend.

"Harry likes me Macy!" she smiled. "And I don't even have to work for it! Just look at his hair! His hair is like…whoa!"

Tracy then proceeded to knock down all of her pictures of Rick Salary on the wall and put up the one of Harry. Something Macy (and probably everybody) never expected her to do.

"And I can't believe you haven't yelled at me, I-I mean educated me since you met Harry!" Macy blushed slightly while picking up a few of Rick's pictures. "Hey, um, since you're dating a yeti now, do you mind if I take these old pictures of Rick?"

"Hey! Get your hands off of those!" Tracy smacked the pictures out of Macy's hands.

Kon entered the garage, carrying a steaming bowl of soup for his sick brother. Kin was still on the couch and for some reason he was staring at his hands.

"How are you feeling bro?" Kon sat next to him.

"Hey Mr. Elephant? Did you ever notice how my hands are kinda like cat paws?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, they feel so fuzzy and warm…just like a teeny, tiny, baby kitten…meow…"

"Uh…yeah. You should really eat something dude." Kon offered him the bowl. "Then maybe you'll start talking normally again."

Kin was about to take the bowl, but then he sneezed and splashed the soup all over Kon.

"…Gesundheit."

"Hey…my arms are pretty furry too…" Kin rubbed his arms. "Maybe I'm part-cat…"

Kon cleaned off his face. "Yeah, sure Kin."

The door to the garage opened and Corey, Laney, and Jackie entered. Harry came in as well, playing another song on his sax.

"Wow…what pretty music…" Kin commented.

Kon covered his ears. "Ugh! You _are_ sick!"

Harry stopped playing and turned to Jackie.

"Gotta say Jackie, I'm really digging your sister!"

Jackie chuckled. "Uh, Harry? Are you sure you're not coming down with what Kin has?"

Kin started licking his hands like a cat.

"HARRY!" Tracy screamed from another room. "Hurry up! We're going to be late for the dinner reservation you'd better have made for tonight!"

"Coming!" Harry called.

"Well, this is just great! We have no lyrics, Kin's still too feverish for the gig, and his replacement is dating one of our worst enemies!" Laney summed up. "Core, you'd better have a plan to fix all of this!"

"I'm sorry!" Corey looked down in guilt. "I don't…"

Jackie beamed. "But I do! Guys? Tracy might have a hair in her eye and a smooth tune in her ear, but there's no way Rick is out of her heart!"

The brown-haired teen went back to Harry. "Hey Harry! I'll make those reservations for you!" she giggled and muttered under her breath. "For four…"

"Good idea!" Harry acknowledged. "I'm pretty hungry."

Jackie walked over to the couch where Kin was purring softly.

"Hey, do you guys think you could look after Kin while I'm gone?" she asked Corey, Laney, and Kon. "You know, make sure his fever doesn't get worse?"

"Sure thing Jacks. We'll keep an eye on him." Corey promised.

Jackie ran a hand through her fanboy's hair.

"I'll be back in a little bit Kin. Just get some sleep, okay?"

"Will you scratch me behind the ears Grandma?" Kin requested before falling asleep.

**SICK KITTEN TRANSITION!**

Tracy and Harry were at the restaurant sitting at a table.

"How is everything so far?" Jackie came up to the table with a chair.

"Whoa, whoa!" Tracy stopped her. "I'll allow you to serve and even pay for our dinner, but you'd better unpull up that chair because you can't join us!"

Jackie laughed. "Oh no! It's not for me! I thought a double date might be fun!"

"I have a date?" Macy asked.

"How long have you been here?" Tracy retorted and then gasped when the door to the restaurant opened and in stepped her former crush, Rick Salary.

"Rick Salary is ready to chow down." he said. "And pretty stoked to meet a real sasquatch."

"Nice hair brother!" Harry gave Rick a fist-bump.

"Ditto. Rick totally gets what Tracy sees in you."

"Um…yeah…in him…" Tracy stammered.

"You know, now that Harry is your boyfriend, I guess you're ready to move on and let someone else have a shot at Rick." Jackie guessed.

"Hey." Rick greeted Macy.

Macy turned deep red and giggled.

"Yeah, we got a pretty good thing going." Harry offered Tracy a steak. "More animal? It's bloody!"

Tracy ignored him, however and growled as she watched Rick feed a blushing Macy her salad.

"Grr…no!" she smacked the steak away. "This is un…whatever and junk!"

"Whoa, you look tense." Harry noticed. "Give my fur a rub. You know how it calms you down."

Tracy was about to rub Harry's arm until she saw something that really made her mad. Macy reached her hand toward Rick's hair and gave it a light touch.

"No…" Tracy stood up from her seat. "NO! I wanna touch Rick's hair! Not this lice filled carpet!"

"Uh-oh…" Macy mumbled.

Tracy screamed and shot up into the air surrounded by saxophones and pictures of Rick. She reached for her diary and wrote flames in it. Harry was very surprised by his girlfriend's behavior but Rick stayed cool, as usual. Macy covered her eyes and Jackie gave a winning smile. Tracy then returned to normal and hit the floor. She groaned and rubbed her head. Jackie caught her diary.

"Rick doesn't like to cause trouble." Rick headed for the door. "He's going for shawarma instead."

"Rick!" Tracy chased after him. "Come back! One hair rub! ONE!"

Macy silently giggled over finally getting to touch the hair of the hottest boy in school.

When Jackie and Harry got home, Harry was very heartbroken. He sat on the stage and rested his cheek on his hand while Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kon comforted him. Kin was still asleep on the couch.

"I don't believe it…I thought she liked me…"

Jackie patted his back. "I'm really sorry Harry. I guess I should have told you Tracy only has eyes for Rick."

"Yeah, too bad." Corey shrugged. "C'mon gang! Let's pack up the gear and get back to the top of Howling Heights!"

"Oh yeah. Forgot about your show." Harry sighed. "Good luck, I guess."

Jackie saw that Kin was still asleep and got an idea. "…Hey Harry? You know, Kin still isn't feeling all that well and someone needs to play in his place. I think you'd be perfect for the job!"

"Whoa! Really?" Harry brightened.

Corey, Laney, and Kon shook their heads nervously but Jackie ignored them.

"Sure! It's the least we can do after all." she gave the others a glare.

"Cool! Thanks Jackie! I won't let you down!" Harry played his saxophone causing the other band members to groan.

Once they were ready, Harry carried all four kids back up Howling Heights mountain. When they made it to the top, they saw that Kelsey and Alyssa were already there waiting for them.

"Oh right! I forgot!" Corey realized. "You guys came with us!"

Kelsey nodded and shivered. "We knew you'd be back so we didn't burn your stuff to stay alive."

"Whew! Always knew we had the coolest fans!" Corey joked.

Jackie facepalmed.

"Hit it boys!" Laney said.

Harry began to play on his sax.

_Way back in time we had nothing_

_There was nothing left for me_

_Except waiting and hoping_

_That one day you'd see_

_I felt forever_

_And I aimed it straight at you_

_But you never saw it and that made me so blue_

_Even though I got a love that's true_

_I'd trade it all for one more memory of you_

_One more memory of you_

_I'd trade it all_

_One more memory of you_

_That's what I want!_

"Whew!" Harry said. "Thanks for letting me jam with you guys!"

"No problem Harry!" Jackie responded. "What are friends for? You wanna stay and do another song?"

"Nah. I need some alone time. Gotta get over a special girl." the yeti walked back to his cave.

"There is definitely something wrong with that guy…" Jackie told herself. Then she heard her phone ring and she quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Jackie!" Kin was on the other line. "Guess what? I found my claws! I really am a kitty!"

"Wait, what?"

"Hey, do you think I could use them to walk on the ceiling? Only one way to find out I guess!"

"Kin! Don't!" Jackie hung up her phone. "Guys, we need to get home. Kin still thinks he's a cat and he's trying to walk on the ceiling!"

"Okay Jacks! Just a minute!" Corey calmed her. "I gotta do my ending monologue first!"

But before the front man even gained a spotlight, he heard Harry playing his saxophone from his cave.

"Eww! On second thought, let's get outta here! Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**For some reason, I think Kin pretending to be a cat is adorable. Then again, almost anything Kin does is adorable to me. So anyway, this is the only chapter you guys will get this week because I am going away for four days. But don't worry, I'll get back to writing on Sunday when I get back. In the meantime, I guess the least I can do is leave you guys with another one of my Top 10 Grojband Dethroning Moments.**

**#7: If you are a true Grojfan, then you probably know the episode "Curse of the Metrognome", otherwise known as "the episode with the Corney kiss". Like many of you, I squealed when the kiss happened and I thought to myself: 'This is it! It's finally happening! Corey and Laney are going to become a couple!' But as soon as the episode ended, I was drowning in my own disappointment. For as soon as Grojband's song ended and Laney tried to kiss Corey again, he went right back to being the oblivious guy we all know him to be. And what's worse, he called Laney 'fella' again! C'mon Corey, stop with those boyish nicknames already and just give Laney the kiss she (and everybody in the fandom) has been wanting since episode 1! See, this is one of the reasons why I was so upset when I found out the show was cancelled. Our dreams of Corney could have finally come true if we had just one more season. Then maybe we would have gotten a REAL kiss between the two! Oh well. We'll always have our fanfics.**

**Well, that's it. See you guys in a couple of days!**


	57. Hate Days a Week

**Oh my god guys, I'm squealing on the inside. While I was uploading this new chapter, I decided to watch an old cartoon from my childhood called "Catscratch". Some of you may have heard of it. It's about these three millionaire cats who take over their owner's mansion after she dies. But anyway, that's beside the point. So I was watching the episode "Bringin' Down the Mouse" (the episode where Waffle, my favorite character, tries to catch a mouse) and there was this one particular scene where Mr. Blik tells Waffle that a mouse has tricked him. Waffle responds by saying "He lied to me?!", clenches his fists, and growls. Then clouds form over him and he shoots up into the air with a blast of fire. And immediately after I saw this I was like "did he just go diary?" So then I watched the scene over and over again because it really did remind me of Trina's Diary Mode. Anyway, go watch the episode for yourselves and tell me if you agree. **

**This next chapter is based off a scenario from Bere-Grojfan55:**

**"****Corey, Laney,Kin and Jackie have a fight, then Kon have to fix it, but with the help of the Newmans."**

**So after a little bit of clarification via private messaging, this is what I came up with. Hope you like it!**

* * *

**Chapter 57**

**Hate Days a Week**

It was Sunday morning, a few days after Jackie and the gang had that encounter with a friendly sax-playing sasquatch. Kin was finally getting over the cold he caught in the mountains. After spending two days of resting at home, drinking fluids, and going through about ten boxes of tissues, his temperature went down and he stopped acting like a delirious cat. However, he hadn't told his friends he was getting better, mainly because since he had gotten sick, Jackie had been waiting on him hand and foot. So he figured he would play sick for a few more days in order to get extra attention from his crush.

The young scientist was currently lying on the couch in the garage, covered up in a blanket Jackie gave him, and playing a hand-held video game. Suddenly, he heard the door to the garage open and Jackie and the others stepped in. He quickly hid the video game, laid down on his pillow, and held the back of his hand to his forehead.

"Hi Kin." Jackie greeted concerned.

Kin groaned in response.

"Aw, how are you feeling?"

"Much worse…" Kin rasped. "This horrible plague has done a number on me…my head is stuffed up, my whole body aches…" he pretended to cough. "And I feel hot and cold at the same time…"

"Oh…I guess you're not up for band practice today then, huh?" Jackie supposed.

"Band practice?" Kin coughed. "Oh Jackie…in this condition, I don't think I have enough strength to get off the couch…In fact, I may never get up again…this will probably be where I spend my last few moments on earth…"

Corey, Laney, and Kon folded their arms and gave each other suspicious glances. The three of them had pretty much figured out Kin's little scheme and weren't falling for his act one bit. Jackie, on the other hand, took pity on him.

"Poor Kin." she rubbed his back soothingly. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"No…having good, caring friends like you guys around when I expire is enough for me…"

"Aw c'mon bro! Knock it off already!" Kon scolded. "Jacks, don't listen to him. He's just faking it so you'll give him your undivided attention!"

Corey and Laney nodded in agreement.

"Kon! How could you say something like that?" Jackie put an arm around Kin which made hearts fill his eyes. "Kin would never lie in order to get attention!"

When she looked back over at the keyboardist, he immediately stopped smiling and coughed into his fist.

"Jackie? Since I'm much too weak to do it myself, would you mind telling Kon to put his brains back inside his head?"

"Hey!" Kon shouted.

Kin continued to cough which made Jackie worry even more.

"Oh, are you okay?" she asked.

"No…" Kin hacked. "I'm afraid I'm slipping away from this world…everything's going dark…this is it…I've led a good life, but it looks like my time is coming to an end…farewell my friends…I'll always remember you…wherever I end up…" he closed his eyes and became motionless.

"Kin!" Jackie cried. "Oh, now what do we do?"

Laney smirked. "Don't worry. A spoonful of cough medicine should fix him right up."

Kin's eyes opened wide. "Medicine?" he stood up on the couch. "It's a miracle! My body has healed itself! Praise to the rock gods above! They've allowed my strength to return and now I can live out the rest of my life!"

"Oh good!" Jackie replied naively. "Looks like we can have band practice today after all!"

Corey smiled at Laney. "Hey, good thinking with the cough medicine." he gave her a friendly punch in the arm. "That was really smart."

Laney blushed. "Oh…uh…thanks Core…"

Tracy and Macy were spying on the five of them from inside the house.

"Aww…isn't it cute how they all love each other like that?" Macy cooed.

"If by cute, you mean obnoxious and vomit-inducing, then yes!" Tracy gagged before leading Macy back to her room. "If you ask me, there should only be two people in this world who are allowed to love: me and hunky Rick Salary! But of course, we would only love each other and nothing else."

Tracy sat on her bed.

"Ugh…if only there was some way to make Jackie and her stupid friends hate each other to the point where their lame band breaks up…" Tracy mumbled.

"Yeah…" Macy nodded. "Too bad there isn't some sort of machinery that can force them to become enemies."

This statement gave Tracy yet another evil idea.

"Macy, that's it!" she exclaimed. "We can use science to break them up! After all, Klutzy Nerd isn't the only inventor around here! All we have to do is make some sort of hatred laser, take it into the garage and ZAP! Jackie and Grojband's friendship will be over!"

"Wow Tracy! You're a genius!" Macy complimented. "But um…don't you think this plan sounds similar to the one you came up with in chapter 24?"

Tracy scoffed. "No way! All we did then was edit the town's anthem. Sure, it did make people hate each other but it also made Rick Salary act super lame! Trust me, this idea is way better! Especially since this time, we'll, I mean, you'll be working with lasers…"

Macy gulped.

**LASERS ARE REALLY COOL!**

A couple of hours later, Macy was finished with her invention. A huge cloth was covering it up when she pushed it into Tracy's room.

"Here it is Tracy!" she took off the cloth revealing a shiny laser with an angry face drawn on it. "Ta-da! I call it the Loathing Laser 100!"

Tracy was too busy looking at herself in her compact mirror to even notice.

"Ugh…why do you scientist nerds do that?"

"Do what?"

"Add those big numbers at the end of the names of your dumb inventions? I mean, it's not like you made 100 of those things! So why put 100 in the name?"

"Well, actually-"

"You know what? I don't care! Just get it into the garage already!"

Macy nodded and did as her BFF told her. Using what little strength she had, she began to push the Loathing Laser 100 toward the garage. When she finally made it to the door, she grabbed ahold of her heart and panted heavily. She was just about to turn the knob when…

**SLAM!**

The door opened and smacked her right in the face. Kon stepped inside the house.

"Kon! Aren't you gonna practice with us?" Jackie called.

"I'll be there in a minute! Right now, it's time for my mid-day pre-lunch afternoon snack!"

The hungry drummer closed the door and Macy slid off the wall in pain. Once she had recovered from her slight headache, she stuck the laser outside the door and aimed it at Jackie and the remaining three band members.

"Well Kon will probably be gone for another hour or so." Jackie concluded. "What do you guys wanna do until then?"

Kin leaned against his keyboard and stared at Jackie's beautiful face.

"Oh, I know what I wanna do…"

Macy pushed a red button activating the Loathing Laser and it zapped all four of the friends. Kin shook his head.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I have no idea…" Jackie held her head dizzily.

Macy was disappointed that her machine failed to work but was also scared of what Tracy would do to her if she found out that it failed. Kin continued.

"Well I was saying, I know what I wanna do. Look the other way so I don't have to see Laney's greasy hair anymore!"

Laney turned to Kin with anger in her eyes. "What did you just say about my hair, Speckle Face?!"

"Um, hello? Can you not hear and/or read? I said it's disgusting! Also, you have dandruff flakes on your shirt."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Laney rolled up her sleeves. "I'll wipe them off! But only if you fix that crack in your glasses!"

"I don't have a crack in my glasses."

Laney punched Kin in the face and one of the lenses on his glasses broke.

"You do now!" Laney chuckled and stuck out her tongue.

Kin scowled and tackled Laney to the ground. The two of them started hitting each other.

"Guys! What are you doing? Stop that!" Corey ordered.

"Oh yeah? Why should we, Mr. Skullcap?"

"Because I'm the leader, which means I'm the boss of you and you have to do what I say, Ketchup Head!"

"Oh, so we're going for red hair jokes now, are we?" Laney retorted, pulling on one of Corey's hairs. "Well, at least my hair doesn't look like a Smurf!"

Corey smacked her hand away. "Hey! Quit touching me or you'll get your cooties all over my hat!"

"Hey! Don't push her!" Kin got in the way. "If anybody's going to push her, it's gonna be me!"

"Would you guys shut up?!" Jackie yelled. "I'm getting really sick of you three yelling in my face!"

"We weren't yelling in your face!" Corey stated. "We wouldn't even look at a face as ugly as yours!"

"Yeah! And if you ask me, _you're _the one with the greasy hair!" Laney added.

"What was that about my hair?!" Jackie stepped onto the stage, looking really mad.

Macy watched as the four of them continued to argue and insult each other.

"This is great!" she whispered to herself. "Tracy's gonna be so happy! I'd better go tell her the good news!"

"You guys are such jerks!" Jackie cried. "I hate all of you!"

"Yeah? Well I hate all of you times two!" Corey argued.

"I hate all of you times ten!" Laney held up all of her fingers.

"Times twenty!" Kin shouted.

"Times fifty!"

"Times a hundred!"

"Times a thousand!"

"TIMES INFINITY!"

"Fine!" Jackie decided. "If that's how you guys are going to be, then I don't wanna see any of you ever again!"

"That goes double for me!" Corey agreed.

"Me too!" Laney nodded.

"Yeah!" Kin concurred.

The four stood there in complete silence and glared at each other with their arms folded. After about twenty seconds, Jackie spoke up.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Get out of my garage!"

"Your garage?!" Corey cried. "What makes you think this is your garage?!"

"It's my house for one thing!"

"Well I say it's my garage!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Laney interrupted. "Who died and made you king? This is my garage!"

"You're all wrong! This garage is mine!" Kin got between Corey and Laney.

"Nuh-uh! It's mine!" Corey hollered.

"No! Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"MINE!"

"HOLD IT!" Corey screamed. "I think I know how we can settle this."

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Kon was finishing off the rest of the food that was in the fridge. He swallowed one last plateful of sausages and then belched loudly.

"Wow! Ten minutes!" he checked his stopwatch. "That's a new record! I gotta go tell the others!"

Kon jumped out of his seat and ran back to the garage. Macy darted by him on the way.

"Hey guys!" he said once he was there. "Guess what? I finally beat my-"

The black-haired boy stopped when he noticed how different the garage looked. For one thing, the floor was covered with lines of white chalk and it was split into four parts. Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kin were each standing in one of the sections: Corey in the top left, Jackie in the top right, Laney in the bottom left, and Kin in the bottom right.

"Okay 'friends'!" Corey announced. "Here's how things are gonna work! We each have our own part of the garage, so from now on everybody's expected to stay in their own quarters! Anybody who crosses those white lines, will be severely penalized! Any questions?"

"Yes!" Kin raised his hand. "How come your side is bigger than mine?"

"Because I'm better than you!" Corey bragged.

"Well, I'm older!"

"Only because of time traveling. Besides, I'm taller."

"I'm smarter!"

"I'm faster!"

"Uh, guys?" Kon said quietly.

"Hey wait a minute!" Jackie ignored Kon. "I don't have a way to get out! You guys took both of the doors!"

"Guys?" Kon spoke again.

"Look at it this way Jacks!" Corey responded. "It's your garage so you should be the one who has to stay in it all the time!"

"You and Kin." Laney added. "Because one thing's for certain, I'm not sharing the garage door with him! So he's gonna have to stay in here too!"

"What?! That's not fair!" Kin fought back. "I want the garage door!"

"Guys?" Kon went.

"Too bad poindexter! I already called dibs!"

"Who are you calling poindexter, Makeup Dude?"

"Hey! What's that over there?" Laney pointed in the opposite direction and when Kin looked the other way, she pushed him. "Oops! Sorry Klutzy Nerd!"

"Guys! Hello?! I'm standing right here!" Kon shouted.

The others immediately stopped arguing and looked over at him.

"Of course! You're right buddy! I'm really sorry!" Corey put an arm around Kon. "I should know better than to ignore my best friend!"

"Your best friend?!" Laney snatched Kon away. "Kon is my best friend! Isn't that right Kon?"

"Well um-"

Jackie took Kon from Laney. "Paws off Lamey! Kon is my best friend!"

Kin got ahold of Kon next.

"He's my younger twin brother and I say he's my best friend!"

Corey tugged on Kon's right arm. "Nuh-uh! He's mine!"

"No, he's mine!" Laney puled on the other arm and soon Jackie and Kin joined in.

"Hey, c'mon guys! Don't I get a say in this?" Kon asked.

"You know what? He's right." Jackie let go of Kon's arm. "We should let Kon choose. It's what I would want if somebody were fighting over me."

"For once, I agree." Corey nodded.

"Me too."

"Same here."

"Okay Kon, tell us." Corey began. "Who would you rather be friends with? A badly-dressed geek, an ugly red-head, a stuck-up manager, or the guy who has access to all of the cheese in Tranquil Town?"

"Cheese?" Kon drooled.

"Oh brother! Don't listen to him Kon!" Laney persuaded. "He's nothing but a dirty liar! And let's be honest, you'd probably prefer a friend who always tells the truth, now wouldn't you?"

"Uh, I-"

"Oh Kon…" Jackie sang while waving Kon's drumsticks in the air. "You can have a hundred drum solos if you pick me."

"Uh…" Kon started sweating.

"Now Kon, unlike these neanderthals, I'm not going to try to win you over with bribes." Kin stated. "Instead, I'll just remind you that we're family. And families should always stick together, don't you agree?"

"I…I…I…" Kon was getting very nervous now. His friends began to call his name repeatedly.

"Kon…"

"Hey Kon!"

"Kon! Over here!"

"Kon! Pick me!"

"Kon?"

"Oh Kon…"

"C'mon bro!"

"Kon!"

Finally, Kon couldn't take it anymore and he screamed:

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Then he ran through the garage door, leaving a giant hole right in the middle of it.

Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kin remained silent for a few seconds. Then Jackie said:

"Now you've done it Corey! You've upset Kon!"

"Me?! It was all Kin's fault!"

"No way! Laney did it!"

"Did not! It was Jackie!"

The sound of the four's arguing could be heard from outside of the garage. Kon popped out of the bushes he was hiding in and listened.

"What's going on?" he asked himself. "Why are they all fighting? What happened to our beautiful friendship?"

Tears formed in the drummer's eyes and he began to cry.

There, there Kon. It's okay. Don't cry.

"Huh?" Kon looked around. "Who said that?"

It's me Kon. Your old friend.

Then Kon remembered. "Oh! Hi there Miss Author! I thought you weren't supposed to talk to us characters?"

Well I'm not Kon. But for this particular chapter I'm writing, I thought it would be fun to break the rules for a change.

"Oh, okay." Kon wiped his tears away. "Well, as long as we're talking, can I ask you a question?"

Of course Kon. What is it?

"Well, you're the one who makes us do stuff in this story, right?"

Uh-huh.

"Then, why did you make Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kin mad at each other? Don't you want all of us to be friends?"

Of course I do Kon. Trust me, I hate the thought of them becoming enemies as much as you do. But sometimes, people leave me reviews that request these sorts of things and as an author, it's my job to make them happy by giving them what they want.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

Don't worry though. Because this new rivalry isn't going to be permanent. In fact, the person who gave me the request for this chapter wanted you to be the one who reunites the band.

"Me? Really?" Kon smiled big. "That is so awesome!"

I thought that would make you happy.

"So Miss Author, how do I make my friends stop fighting?"

Come with me Kon. I'll show you.

**BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL IS FUN!**

Well, this is it Kon. We're here.

Kon took a look at the house the author had led him to and scratched his chin.

"Huh, this place looks so familiar…"

It should be. It's the Mattersons' residence.

"Mattersons' residence?! As in Jack Matterson?! Manager of…" he shuddered. "The Newmans?!"

Yes.

"But-but, why would you bring me here? You know I can't stand those guys!"

Well, the loyal reader who sent me this chapter's scenario said he or she wanted you to seek advice on how to make Jackie and the others stop fighting from someone else.

"And they want me to talk to Grojband's mortal enemies?"

Hey, don't blame me. I'm just an author.

"Ugh…do I have to do this?" Kon whined.

You want your friends to be friends again, don't you?

Kon nodded.

Then go.

The fat kid let out a sigh, walked over to the garage door, and knocked gently.

Jack and the Newmans were inside the garage rehearsing when they heard the knocking.

"Now who could that be?" Carrie asked.

"Must be one of your adoring fans." Jack figured. "Don't worry, I'll get it."

He went over to the garage door and opened it up. When he saw Kon standing there, his friendly smile turned into a hateful frown.

"What do you want, loser? Can't you see we're busy?"

"Uh…" Kon didn't know what to say so he looked back at the author. "Do you think you could tell him for me?"

Sorry Kon, but I'm not allowed to talk to minor characters.

"Excuse me?" Jack was offended. "I am not a minor character! I've been in twelve out of the fifty-seven chapters you've written so far!"

"Uh, I'm not so good at math, but that doesn't sound like a very large proportion." Kon pointed out.

"Whatever. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Listen, I need your help!" Kon explained. "Something happened between Jackie and the other band members and now they won't stop fighting! And even worse, they're arguing over who gets ownership of me! I need help. Like, a lot of help."

"And you think I'm going to be the one who offers you advice?" Jack guessed.

"Well, yeah. Basically."

Jack scoffed. "Get lost."

The brown-haired boy was about to close the garage door but Kon used his strong arms to lift it back up.

"Wait! Please, I'm really desperate! If you don't help me, then my band's just going to keep fighting forever!"

"Not our problem!" Jack tried closing the door again but Kon held it open.

"But you have to help me! The request the author received says so!"

"Hold on, somebody actually asked the author to make Matthews and those lame friends of yours fight, so you could come to me and the Newmans for help?"

"Yes. I hate it as much as you do, but there's no way out of it."

Jack thought about it for a minute.

"All right. We'll help you."

Kon smiled.

"But…" Jack kept going. "Only if the author admits that I'm not a minor character."

What?

"You heard me! Say I'm just as important as all of the other characters in the fic!"

What?! I'm not going to say that!

"Fine then." Jack shrugged. "I guess you'll never be finished with this chapter then."

Wait! Fine. *sighs* You're not a minor character. You're just as important as all of the other characters in the fic.

"Now was that so hard?" Jack opened the garage door and let Kon in.

The Newmans were terribly shocked when they found out that Jack had let one of their worst rivals inside their garage. They almost tore the poor drummer to shreds when they saw him come in. But luckily, Jack explained the entire situation to his band and they all somewhat agreed to listen to what Kon had to say. Then Kon told his band's gender opposites the story of how Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kin got into a fight all of a sudden and how he followed the author to their house so he could ask for assistance.

"I just don't understand it…" he said. "We've been friends for so long. I thought nothing would ever tear us apart. I mean, sure we had a few disagreements from time to time, but they weren't as bad as this. I don't want things to stay this way forever. I want my old friends back!"

And then he burst into tears. Jack and the Newmans exchanged awkward glances. Kim took off her red neckerchief and offered it to Kon. Kon sniffled.

"Oh, thank you." he accepted the red cloth item and used it to blow his nose. When he finished, he handed it back to Kim, who couldn't be more revolted.

"If only there was a way for me to fix this." Kon continued. "But I don't know what to do! I mean, what do you guys do when you have fights?"

Carrie chuckled. "When we have fights? No, no, no! See, the Newmans don't fight. We're too sophisticated for that stuff. Besides, we don't have a reason to fight because everyone always agrees with everything I say."

"No we don't." Larry replied.

"Yes you do Larry."

Larry sighed.

"But…you must have some idea of how to stop an argument! Otherwise the author wouldn't have sent me here!" Kon got on his knees. "Please! Just tell me what I need to do! I'll do anything! Please…"

Jack crossed his arms. "Well, have you tried talking to them? You know, asked them to stop?"

"Yes! But that just made everything worse!" Kon began to cry again.

"Well then, maybe you just need to talk to them in a different way."

Kon sniffled. "A different way?"

Kim squeezed all of the tears and snot out of her neckerchief.

"Yeah, like, maybe you could write them a note or draw them a picture or…um…"

"I know!" Carrie interrupted. "Why not sing them a song?"

Kon perked up. "A song? That's perfect! That's the best idea ever!" he paused. "Um…what song should I sing for them?"

"Uh, we already gave you our advice." Carrie told him, pushing him toward the door. "So we can't help you anymore. Get out!"

"But, but, I can't go yet! I need a song that'll stop a fight between four angry teenagers!"

"You'll figure something out. Toodles!" Carrie shoved Kon outside and slammed the garage door shut.

Kon sat up and began to think.

Kon? What's the matter? Didn't you get the advice you needed?

"Kind of…they told me I needed to sing Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kin a song."

So, what's the problem?

"I don't think I know how to write a song that will make them friends again…"

Well Kon, I figured the Newmans wouldn't be much help so how about I offer you some advice of my own?

"Really? That'd be great! Thanks!"

Okay, remember way back in Chapter 10 when Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kin pretended to be in love so you could all get cake at a wedding?

"Oh yeah! I remember that! They ignored me and kept me out of all the fun, so I quit the band."

Uh-huh. And do you remember what happened next?

"I went to the wedding that night and they sang me a song telling me to come back to the band. And then we were all friends again!"

Exactly!

"Now I get it! You're saying to get the others to stop fighting…I need to buy them a giant wedding cake!"

*sighs* No Kon. I'm saying you need to sing a song that shows how important your all's friendship is and that's what will make them stop fighting.

"Oh…that makes a lot more sense!" Kon scratched his head. "Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to get lyrics for the song…"

Don't worry Kon. I've got a crazy plan that just might work…*whispers*

"…Why didn't you just say it out loud?"

It's more fun to let the readers to figure it out for themselves.

**SECRET PLAN TRANSITION!**

Back at the garage, the remaining four band members were still yelling at each other. Tracy and Macy were watching them from the door inside the house.

"You guys are the worst!"

"Just shut up already!"

"Quit touching me Corey!"

"You're so annoying!"

Tracy laughed. "Nice going Mace! They all totally hate each other now! Their anger is fueling my happiness or whatever!"

"Thanks Tracy! I just knew you would-"

That's when Tracy realized something. "Hey…wait a second! Macy!"

"Uh, yes Tracy?"

"There's only four boneheads in that garage! Aren't there supposed to be five of them?"

"Uh…"

Tracy picked up Macy by her shirt collar. "Macy, you dolt! Where's the Big Ball of Lard?!"

Then the teen noticed an empty space where the Loathing Laser 100 used to be.

"And where's your dorky laser thingy?"

Well, it just so happens that 'the Big Ball of Lard' himself had taken the Loathing Laser. He was currently pushing it down the street, looking for someone in particular. When he saw that someone coming towards him, he hid himself and the laser in the bushes. Kon slowly peeked out of his hiding spot and smiled when he saw his target: the hunkiest guy in school and Tracy's biggest crush, Rick Salary.

"Bingo!" Kon said to himself. Quickly, he flipped a switch on the laser labeled 'Reverse' and aimed it at Rick.

**ZAP!**

Rick went cross-eyed.

"Whoa. Rick feels strange."

Then Kon took out a photograph of Tracy and made it into a paper airplane. He threw it at Rick's head.

Rick took the paper out of his hair and unfolded it.

"Whoa…Tracy Matthews…now there's a girl that deserves to be Rick Salary's boyfriend."

The teenaged boy dropped the picture and headed for Tracy's house.

"Yes!" Kon fist-pumped.

Tracy was still holding onto Macy and glaring at her.

"Tracy I'm sorry!" Macy begged. "I didn't know there were five of them!"

"Seriously?! We're halfway through this lame fanfic and you still can't remember how many enemies we have?!"

She was about to hurt Macy in the worst possible way until the doorbell rang. Tracy dropped Macy and she hit the floor.

"Ugh! Who could that be?" Tracy stormed over to the door and opened it.

"Hey Tracy Matthews." Rick greeted.

Tracy gasped. "R-R-Rick? Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you doing here?"

"Rick was taking a stroll through the neighborhood, when he felt something deep inside of him. You know, like a spark."

"A spark?"

"Yeah. Like a spark of love."

Tracy felt her heart pumping rapidly.

"Rick Salary loves you Tracy."

"Rick loves me?" Tracy had a huge smile on her face. "He really loves me?! This has to be a dream! No! It isn't a dream! This is totes real! IT'S REALLY HAPPENING!"

Tracy shot up into the air surrounded by hearts. Her diary and pen floated into her hands and she wrote hearts across the pages. Pink clouds filled the sky and hearts rained down from above. Tracy held out her pen which had hearts coming out of the tip of it. Then she gently floated down into Rick's arms.

"Best…day…ever…"

Kon held out his hand and caught Tracy's diary.

"This is so awesome! I've always wanted to be the one to catch Tracy's diary! Oops! Almost forgot!" the drummer flipped a switch on the laser labeled 'Reverse-Reverse' and pressed the fire button.

Rick and Tracy were just about to kiss when the black-haired hunk got zapped again.

"Huh? Rick's confused as to how he got here." he let go of Tracy and walked out the door.

"Wait! Rick!" Tracy chased after him. "Come back! I thought you loved me!"

Kon came back into the garage and got on the stage. He tapped on the microphone to get his friends' attention. They stopped arguing and looked over at him.

"Guys? I think it's time we put this little disagreement behind us! And I've got a new song that'll help make it happen."

Kon cleared his throat and began to sing.

_It seems our friendship has gone_

_If only I knew what went wrong_

_It just isn't right to argue and fight_

_That's why I wrote this little song_

_Friendships were meant to last_

_So let's stop thinking bout the past_

_We need each other in our lives_

_So why don't we make up and do it fast?_

_Love and friendship_

_It makes a brand new start_

_The key to happiness is lying_

_Deep inside your heart_

_Love and friendship_

_It's stronger than war and hate_

_Let's join hands and sing together_

_Before it's too late_

Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kin all had tears in their eyes from Kon's song.

"Bro?" Kin sniffed. "That was beautiful."

"More beautiful than the song we sang for you when you quit the band." Laney added.

"Hey guys?" Corey spoke up. "I'm sorry I said all of those mean things. I didn't mean any of em."

"I'm sorry too." Laney said. "I don't wanna fight with any of you. I love you all so much."

"Yeah." Jackie agreed. "I love you guys too."

Kin gained hearts in his eyes. "And I love you Ja…I mean, I love you guys too…heh, heh!"

And then they all hugged each other. Kon jumped off of the stage and joined them.

"You know, I just realized something." Jackie stated. "We've been fighting for almost the whole day now and I've already forgotten what it was we were fighting about!"

"Yeah! Me too!" Corey nodded. "How'd the whole thing even get started anyway?"

"Oh well. Who cares?" Jackie shrugged. "Let's just agree to never break up our friendship again. Well, unless one of the readers wants it to happen. But if it does, let's make sure we're friends again by the end of the chapter."

"Deal!" Grojband replied at the same time.

"By the way Kon, that was a great idea to sing us a song and bring us back together." Jackie acknowledged. "How'd you come up with it?"

"Oh, an old friend thought it up for me."

*winks*

"Well, now that everything's back to normal, we should probably go destroy that laser Tracy built." Kon informed his friends. "Come to think of it, that was probably what made you guys so mad at each other in the first place!"

"Laser?" Kin repeated. "What laser?"

"Yeah, Tracy had some kind of machine that makes people hate each other. I used the reverse switch to make Rick fall in love with her so I could get lyrics from her diary."

"Wait a minute! You had the laser with you the whole time?" Jackie recapped.

"Yeah…"

"Kon! You could have saved the author about a thousand words of writing if you had just used the reverse switch on us!" Laney scolded.

"Whoops…" Kon gave a sheepish smile while Kin facepalmed.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**39 original chapters left! 35 slots available!**

**Wow. I was not planning on making this chapter so long. Hope you guys enjoyed otherwise! So the next chapter is going to be Halloween themed and I'm going to start working on that one tomorrow. I hope to get it done before Halloween so I can give it to you guys then but I can't promise you anything. Moving on, here is the next dethroning moment of my Top 10 Grojband Dethroning Moments.**

**#6: This dethroning moment comes from the episode "For Hat and Country". We all remember this delightful episode where Grojband forms their own country so Corey can get a cowboy hat, right? Yeah, I liked that episode a lot. But there was one part of this episode that I didn't like. The scene where Trina (who else?) sabotages Corey so he can't get the cowboy hat. I don't know if you guys knew this, but I absolutely HATE Trina. Her beastly character and bad attitude irks me to no end and I get really mad when she tries to ruin Grojband's gigs. However, I feel like in most episodes, Trina actually has a somewhat acceptable reason to ruin them (e.g.: the band's music will interfere with her and Nick Mallory). But in this episode, she doesn't. Literally, the only reason why she doesn't want Corey to get a new hat is because she "doesn't want to hate a whole new hat". What kind of a pathetic excuse is that? This kind of thing proves that Trina doesn't want to just ruin Corey's band, she wants to ruin his life! I mean, I knew she was evil, but I didn't think she was THAT evil!**

**Okay guys, I'll maybe try to get another chapter uploaded on Halloween, but like I said, I'm not making any promises. See you next time!**


	58. Fang in There

**Happy day after Halloween everybody! Sorry I got this chapter uploaded a day late. I really wanted to give it to you on Halloween but time just ran away from me. I hope you enjoy otherwise.**

**This special Halloween-themed chapter is based on a scenario given to me by a guest reviewer:**

**"****Since Halloween is near, I came up with a original story. You're going to love this. After grojband and newmans bet to see who can get the most candy, they decided to take a shortcut through the graveyard and both bands get bitten by a vampire. Now is up to Jackie and Jack find a way turn them back while trying to avoid the town's angry mobs."**

**I made a few changes to this request in order to make it more kid-friendly but it's still pretty much the same. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 58**

**Fang in There**

It was October 31st. Halloween had come once again. In Tranquil Town, everyone always had plans to celebrate Halloween. Whether it was trick-or-treating, going to costume parties or egging other people's houses, the citizens always had fun. That night, the moon was covered by a thick fog, the houses were decorated with spooky decorations, and the streets were lined with little children in costumes carrying huge bags of all sorts of Halloween goodies. Among those kids were the heroes of our story, Jackie Matthews and Grojband. The five of them were dressed up in their own outfits (Jackie a vampire queen, Corey a skeleton, Laney a black cat, Kin a mummy, and Kon a werewolf) and they each had their own bag to store their candy in.

"Isn't this fun guys?" Jackie said. "Our first real Halloween together! It's going to be great!"

"First real Halloween?" Laney repeated.

"Well, considering last year's Halloween turned into a zombie apocalypse, I thought this year we could do it right by going trick-or-treating and having fun instead of dealing with anything supernatural."

"Aw, but those zombies were cool!" Kon whined. "Really scary, but cool! And besides, getting rid of them was what made last year's Halloween so fun!"

"C'mon Kon! Trick-or-treating is fun too!" Jackie poked Kon's tummy. "You wanna get candy, don't you?"

Kon licked his lips and nodded.

"Good! Because we're gonna need a lot of it if we're going to win the contest!"

"Contest? What contest?" Corey asked.

Jackie took out a flyer and showed it to her band.

"The Tranquil Town Confectionary Contest! We have it every year! It's a competition where kids go around the neighborhood and try to get candy! The team that collects the most candy by the end of the night wins this year's grand prize, the world's largest candy apple!" Jackie flipped the advertisement to the other side where a picture of a huge candy apple was printed.

"Ooh…" Grojband went.

"Ha! Winning that sweet, juicy fruit is gonna be super easy!" Corey claimed. "With the five of us working together, there's no way we can lose!"

"Guess again Riffin!"

Jackie and Grojband looked behind them and gasped when they spotted their gender opposites, Jack Matterson and the Newmans staring them down. They too were wearing unique costumes (Jack was a vampire king, Carrie a princess, Larry a clown, Kim a nurse, and Konnie a cowgirl) and carrying trick-or-treat bags. Jackie gasped when she saw that Jack was wearing the same costume as her.

"Hey Matterson! You totally copied my costume! I'm the only one in the neighborhood who gets to be a vampire queen!"

"And you are Matthews." Jack smirked. "Because I'm not a vampire queen, I'm a vampire king. Which is way different and far superior to a vampire queen."

"It is not! Vampire queens are the best and they don't need any vampire king ruling alongside them!"

Kin was surrounded by hearts. "But they can still have mummy kings, right?"

"You may as well forget about that giant candy apple Grossband." Carrie went on. "Because the Newmans are going to win it!"

"No way!" Corey argued. "That candy apple is ours! Grojband's been ready for this contest for weeks!"

"Really? Cause a few minutes ago, you didn't even know what it was." Laney pointed out.

Corey ignored her. "Let's hope you and the others get a ton of candy Beff. Because once tonight is over, you won't have anything else!"

"Oh yeah? If you're so confident, then let's see you put your candy where your mouth is! You against us! Whichever band collects the most candy by the end of the night is the better one."

"You're on!" Corey got in Carrie's face.

"May the best band win! Of course, that's us." Carrie bragged.

"C'mon guys!" Corey said to his bandmates. "Let's hit some houses! We're gonna need at least twenty bags worth of candy if we're gonna win!"

"So, where are we going first Core?" Laney asked.

"Hm…" Corey scratched his chin until he got an idea. "I got it! There's a ton of houses we can go to downtown! Let's head there! C'mon, we'll take a shortcut through the old abandoned graveyard!"

"Shouldn't we tell Jackie where we're going?" Kin questioned.

"Nah. We won't be gone long."

With that said, Grojband and the Newmans went their separate ways and left Jackie and Jack by themselves. The two of them were still arguing about who had the better costume.

"Vampire queens are better Matterson!"

"That's what you think Matthews! Vampire kings are the new thing!"

"Nuh-uh! Queens are!"

"Kings!"

"Queens!"

"Kings!"

"QUEENS!"

"Wait!" Jack yelled and looked around. "Where's Carrie? And the rest of my band? They're not here!"

Jackie turned around. "Yeah, Corey and the others are gone too!"

Both managers started calling out for their bands.

"Corey?"

"Carrie!"

"Laney? Where'd you guys go?"

"Larry, this isn't funny! Come out!"

"Oh Kin! Kon! I know you're out there somewhere!"

"Kim! Konnie! Where are you?"

When nobody answered them, Jackie and Jack became worried.

"Gee, I…guess we're on our own then, huh?" Jackie supposed.

"Guess so…"

"Just you…and me…"

"Yep…"

"With no one else…"

"Yep…"

They both remained perfectly still for a few more seconds and then they screamed.

"HELP!"

Meanwhile, Grojband had just arrived at the old abandoned graveyard.

"Here it is guys!" Corey said. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Kin and Kon cheered.

"Core, I'm not so sure about this." Laney told the leader. "This is the place where all of those creepy zombies live. What if we accidentally wake them up and cause a total outbreak like last year?"

"Don't worry fella." Corey wrapped an arm around Laney. "We got rid of that freaky skull amp, remember? There won't be any zombies attacking us tonight!"

Laney giggled and hearts popped out of her.

The Newmans entered a different part of the graveyard.

"Girls? This place is freaking me out." Larry spoke up. "Maybe we should just go back."

"It's okay girlfriend." Carrie poked Larry on the nose. "Nothing's going to happen to you as long as I'm around."

Larry sighed and hearts filled his eyes.

But unknownst to the two rock groups, there was a mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of the graveyard. He was tall, had a long black cape, and his front teeth were somewhat pointy. He saw both Grojband and the Newmans coming closer.

"Ahh…time for my midnight snack…" he chuckled to himself before hiding behind a tombstone.

"Whoa! It looks there's over a hundred houses in that neighborhood!" Corey peered ahead. "We'll get the most candy and win the contest for sure! Man, I can't wait to see the looks on the Newmans' faces when we beat-huh?"

Just as Corey was about to say 'them', he and the rest of Grojband came face-to-face with the rival band.

"What are you doing here Riffin?" Carrie glared.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"Taking a shortcut so we can get the most candy and win that giant candy apple! Duh!"

"Hey! That was our plan you plan-stealers!"

"The only one who's guilty of idea theft is you, Bonehead! You and your manager."

"Excuse me princess!" Kin interrupted. "But Jackie thought of what she was going to wear for Halloween way back in January! So she didn't steal anything from anyone!"

"Oh yeah? Well Jack decided on his costume in October!" Kim got in Kin's face. "Of last year!"

"Ooh…" Konnie commented. "Nice comeback sis!"

"You may as well admit it Kujira." Kim went on. "Your manager's costume is practically garbage compared to Jack's. Come to think of it, all of your costumes stink! A toilet-paper mummy? How original!"

"Well at least we picked costumes that are supposed to be scary!" Kon fought back. "I mean, c'mon! What's so scary about a nurse?"

Kim scowled and pulled out a giant vaccine. "Why don't you ask my needle friend?"

The two bands continued to argue and insult each other's costumes until loud thunder boomed and lightning flashed.

"AAA!" they all yelped.

Then suddenly, the dark, evil-looking figure with a black cape crept out from behind the tombstone he was hiding behind.

"Well, well, well! What do we have here? I suppose you kids have come to…have a bite?!"

Lightning flashed again and revealed the dark figure's long sharp fangs. Grojband and the Newmans were horrified.

"AAAAAAAA!"

**ZOMBIE DANCE TRANSITION!**

Jackie and Jack arrived at the graveyard to continue to look for their bands. They had already searched most of their neighborhood and their trick-or-treat bags were nearly full.

"I still don't see why they would have come here." Jackie told Jack. "Especially not after last year's zombie catastrophe."

"Well it's the only place they could have gotten to in so little time!" Jack reminded her. "Now let's go!"

"I don't know. Maybe we should turn around and see if they went back to our neighborhood while we were gone."

"Whatsa matter Matthews? You scared of a little graveyard?"

"If you almost got your head bitten off by a dead puppy, wouldn't you be scared?"

"Relax. No one's going to bite your head off. It's not that appetizing anyway."

"Good. Then maybe the zombies will eat your head instead. I imagine yours is way tastier than mine."

"Wait, they wouldn't actually try to eat me, would they?"

"Well, they'd have to eat somebody. And like you said, I'm not that appetizing."

Jack gulped and then the two entered quietly. They looked around the dark, foggy place to see if anybody was hiding there. When they couldn't find anybody, Jack said:

"Okay, I guess they're not here! Heh, heh! Let's leave!"

Jackie tugged on Jack's cape.

"Oh, now look who's scared of a little graveyard!"

"Me?" Jack scoffed. "Nuh-uh! I'm not scared! I just…don't wanna get my costume dirty!"

"So you are scared."

"Of getting my costume dirty!"

Jackie squinted her eyes and saw what looked like blue hair in the distance.

"Hey! I think I fond them! Let's go!"

"Oh no! I'm not going over there! You can't make me!"

"C'mon you big sissy! You want your band back, don't you?" Jackie dragged Jack toward Grojband and the Newmans by his cape.

"No! Please! Spare me! I'm too beautiful to die!"

"There you guys are!" Jackie greeted her friends, who, along with the Newmans, were facing the opposite direction. "I've been looking all over for you! Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Grojband and the Newmans turned around and smiled evilly. Jackie and Jack noticed how pointy and sharp their front teeth were.

"Whoa…what big teeth you have…"

"Yes…" Corey hissed. "The better to dine on something gooey…and sticky…and sweet…"

Jackie gasped and dropped her bag of candy. Jack hid behind her and shook with fear.

"C'mon guys! Let's eat!" Corey announced.

"AAAAAA!" Jackie and Jack screamed as the eight charged at them. They both closed their eyes and heard loud chewing noises.

Jackie opened one of her eyes and saw that Grojband and the Newmans weren't eating her. Instead, they were eating her candy.

"Delicious morsels…" Corey drooled. "Come to papa!"

Kon snatched Jack's bag away from him and poured all of the candy into his mouth.

"Hey! That's my candy you big oaf!" Jack yelled.

"Mm…such heavenly, mouth-watering delicacies…" Kon belched.

The two bands continued to eat candy until there was none left. Corey shook Jackie's bag and found that it was empty. He tossed it aside and stood up.

"We need more…"

"More?" Laney asked.

"Yes! More!"

"MORE CANDY!" all eight shouted.

Corey sniffed the air and pointed at Jackie's neighborhood.

"Over there! That town is chock full of our favorite confections! I can smell them from a mile away! Let's go!"

And so, Grojband and the Newmans transformed into big-fanged bats and flew away. Jack came out from behind Jackie.

"Did they just turn into bats?" he shuddered.

"Something weird is going on here." Jackie noted. "We'd better follow them!"

Jack nodded and followed Jackie back to town where a Halloween street party was going on. The townsfolk were all dressed up in costumes and playing games. Children were eating from their bags of candy and bobbing for apples.

A little boy dressed up as a devil reached into his pumpkin bucket and pulled out a little sweet. He was about to eat it when he heard a loud chomping sound. He looked in front of him and saw that Corey had eaten his piece of candy and was sitting in his pumpkin bucket. The boy screamed and ran away. A woman dressed as a witch walked up to the food table and was about to serve herself some green gelatin until she saw a fanged smile right through it. Kon popped out and ate the whole plate of gelatin, which made the woman shriek. One person took a mini-donut out of a bowl and looked inside the hole. He was absolutely terrified to see Larry standing right in front of him. He quickly dropped his donut and ran away from him. Larry caught the donut on his tongue. A boy and a girl were showing each other the candy they had collected. Carrie jumped between the two of them and took both of their bags.

"Mine!" she scolded before gobbling down all of their treats. The boy and the girl began to cry.

A zombie couple was sharing a plate of cookies when Laney came out and scared them away. Then the red-head took the plate of cookies and ate them all. Kim noticed a kid in a robot costume licking a lollipop. She took out a really big magnet and attracted the kid to her. The kid got stuck to the magnet and Kim took his lollipop. A little girl in a fairy costume was bobbing for apples. She stuck her head into the bucket and came out with an apple in her mouth. Unfortunately the apple was also attached to Kin's mouth.

"Eeek!" the girl left and Kin ate the entire apple.

Konnie scared away some more citizens by pouncing on a table and drinking out of a huge bowl of punch.

By the time the kids had finished feasting on sweets, the whole party was a wreck. The eight of them rubbed their full bellies happily. Then Corey's nose began to twitch.

"Wait a minute…is that…?" he sniffed. "…Candy apple?"

The two groups of friends looked ahead of them and saw the world's largest candy apple. They all drooled heavily.

"Let's dig in gang!"

"Hey! Who made this mess?" a loud voice boomed.

"Uh-oh!" Corey changed back into a bat and he and the others flew away.

Mayor Swellow entered the scene looking pretty angry.

"What in the name of Tranquil Town is going on here?!"

"Vampires!" somebody cried. "They showed up to the party and wrecked everything!"

"And they ate all my candy!" a little boy wailed.

"Vampires?" the mayor chuckled. "Now come on now Tranquilians! I understand ya'll are caught up in this whole monsters and goblins festivity, but that ain't no reason to be causing a ruckus! Vampires…pfft…of all the craziest things…"

Just then, Jackie and Jack arrived to the party, or at least what was left of it.

Jackie gasped. "Oh no! We're too late! They're already gone!"

Mayor Swellow gasped as well. "Vampires! They really do exist! And they've come to destroy our Halloween!" he picked up a flaming torch. "C'mon Tranquil Town! Let's tear the non-beating hearts out of those monsters!"

"Yeah!" the other citizens agreed and they all charged toward the two managers, carrying pitchforks and torches.

"Please tell me you have a plan to get us out of this…" Jack mumbled.

"I do…" Jackie paused. "RUN!"

The brunettes sprinted in the opposite direction and the townspeople chased after them. They headed back to the old graveyard and using their sharp wits, they ducked behind a tombstone. The angry mob ran right past them.

Jack panted. "Did we lose them?"

Jackie poked her head out and looked around. "I think so…"

"Some Halloween this turned out to be!" Jack stood up and dusted himself off. "My band's been turned into candy-eating vampires, people are trying to cut our hearts out, and to top it all off, I'm stuck with a she-beast for my partner!"

"I'm not a she-beast! And I'm certainly not your partner!"

"Yeah, good thing too."

Jackie was very angry now. She picked up Jack by the collar and aimed her fist at his face.

"Why you…"

"Hey! What's that?" Jack noticed a mysterious-looking house sitting on a hill above the graveyard.

Jackie let go of Jack and looked at it herself.

"How come I've never seen that house here before?"

"Who cares? I bet we can hide in it in case those costumed knuckleheads come back!"

"For once, you actually came up with a good idea!"

So the gender opposites climbed up the hill and ran to the front door of the house. Jackie knocked on it gently.

"Hello? Is there anyone home?" she knocked again. "Hello? We need some help out here!"

"Oh for crying out loud! This is taking way too long! Step aside!" Jack took a few steps back before charging head-first into the door.

Jackie turned the knob and the door instantly opened. Jack ran straight into the house and fell over. Jackie smiled and looked down at him.

"Or we could just twist the knob and see if it's unlocked."

"I really loathe you when you're right…"

The brown-haired boy stood up and he and his female counterpart gazed at the house's spooky decor.

"Whoa, this place is really creepy…" Jack observed.

"Do you think anyone lives here?" Jackie asked.

"Well, what do you know?" a voice came out of nowhere. "It seems I have visitors!"

An evil-looking silhouette emerged from the darkness. It had scary red eyes and a wicked smile. Jackie and Jack held onto each other as they screamed.

Then the lights turned on and the shadow was revealed to be a friendly old man in a black cape.

"Welcome to my humble abode, kind travelers! I am Count Claudius Sheridan!" he bowed. "How do you do?"

"Wait, you're not gonna eat us?" Jackie questioned.

"Eat you?" Claudius laughed. "Why would I want to eat you?"

"Maybe because…you're a vampire?" Jack referred to Claudius's fangs.

"A vampire? Oh no, no, no, no, no!" he shook his head. "I'm not a vampire! I'm a candpire!"

Jackie and Jack stood blank.

"…You know, candy vampire? Candpire? It's a vampire who eats candy? You know what? Never mind. What brings a sweet young couple like yourselves to my place of residence?"

"Couple?!" Jackie and Jack let go of each other. "Blech!"

"We are not a couple!" Jack claimed.

"No way!" Jackie gagged.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry! My mistake! I just assumed you were because of your similar ensembles and appearances!"

"What?!" Jackie shouted. "We don't look anything alike!"

"Yeah, and the only reason we have 'similar ensembles' is because she stole my costume idea!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"All right! All right! Would you please stop with the fighting already?" Claudius requested. "Now, as I was saying before, why have you come here?"

"It's a long story…" Jack sighed.

"Which is why we're going to skip the part where we explain it to you." Jackie stated.

**SKIPPING TIME TRANSITION!**

"Hm…I see…" Claudius nodded. "So, you're using my home to hide from a pack of individuals who think that you're real vampires?"

"That's the gist of it." Jack concluded.

"And you also say that all of your friends have been turned into vampires and are eating every piece of candy in sight?"

"Yep!" Jackie said. "Except, now that I think about it, if all they were eating was candy, that wouldn't make them vampires…it would make them…"

"Candpires!" Claudius finished. "Yes! Indeed it would! Now tell me, did these friends of yours visit the graveyard near my domicile tonight?"

"Yes…"

"Why?"

"Well…simply put…I was the one who made them candpires!"

"You were?" Jackie was shocked.

Jack stood up with anger in his eyes. "You turned my band into a bunch of sugar-craving monsters?!"

"But…but why?" Jackie stammered.

"For not following the Halloween tradition of course!"

"What Halloween tradition?" Jack shook Claudius rapidly. "What are you talking about old man?!"

"You mean you kids have never heard of…the Halloween tradition?"

Jackie and Jack shook their heads.

Claudius looked behind him and pulled the two closer.

"Well…" he whispered. "It goes something like this…every year on Halloween, children all over Tranquil Town go trick-or-treating when it gets dark. The little ones visit many houses so they can collect all sorts of goodies for their trick-or-treat bags. Then, once the night is almost over, they visit the old graveyard so they can give all of their candy to me. And for every bag of sweets they give me, I give them their very own everlasting lollipop! But tonight was different. For when your friends entered the graveyard and I approached them, I noticed that their bags were completely empty! And according to the rules of the Halloween tradition, any child who fails to bring a full bag of candy to a candpire, must become a candpire! And that's exactly what I did to your friends."

Jackie and Jack gasped.

"But how did you do it?"

"Did you bite them?"

"Oh no! I just used some harmless magic to give them fangs and a natural craving for candy. Nothing serious."

"Phew…" Jackie and Jack sighed.

"But I must tell you this. Now that your friends are candpires, they must stay candpires…forever!"

"Stay candpires?"

"Forever?"

"Yes…forever…well, it was very nice talking to you. Have a nice day!" Claudius turned to leave but Jackie stopped him.

"Wait! We can't let our bands stay monsters for the rest of their lives! There has to be a way to change them back!"

"Yeah, isn't there like a potion or elixir that'll make them human again?"

"No. The only way for them to change back is if I change them back myself!" Claudius explained.

"Oh! Great!" Jackie said. "So, will you do it?"

"Hm…no."

"Aw c'mon! Why not?"

"They broke the rules of the Halloween tradition! It's the way it has to be! Now please, leave me alone."

Jack wasn't ready to give up. He walked up to Claudius and picked him up by the collar.

"Listen buster! The Newmans are my best friends and the greatest band on earth!"

"Second greatest." Jackie reminded him.

"And if you don't turn them back to the way they were, there's gonna be trouble! Do you understand me?"

"All right! All right! I'll change them back on one condition."

Jack let go of him. "Ugh, what do you want?"

"I've heard talk about there being a contest in your neighborhood to win the world's largest candy apple. I've had my eye on that apple since I read about it in the papers. If you bring it to me, I will reverse my magic on your friends."

"You've got yourself a deal!" Jack shook hands with Claudius.

**CANDY APPLES ARE THE BEST!**

Jackie and Jack made it back to their neighborhood and found the world's largest candy apple sitting on the one table that wasn't completely destroyed by Grojband and the Newmans.

"There it is!" Jack observed. "Let's grab it and leave before anybody sees us!"

They both went to opposite ends of the apple and slowly lifted it up.

"Man, this thing weighs a ton!" Jack grunted.

"What do you expect? It's the world's largest candy apple!"

"Hey!" a voice cried.

The managers looked to their right and saw that Mayor Swellow and the angry mob had just arrived.

"They're trying to steal the world's largest candy apple! Is there no end to their vampire trickery?" a person asked.

"Maybe it's time we invited them to a stake dinner!" Mayor Swellow took out a wooden stake and he and the townspeople ran towards Jackie and Jack again.

"C'mon! Move!" Jackie ordered as she and Jack ran back to the graveyard.

The mayor and the mob were about to follow them but they were stopped by the candpire Grojband and the candpire Newmans. They had just finished eating ten more bags of candy and they were still hungry.

"We want to suck your blood sugar!" Corey announced. "Unless you leave and let us take the candy apple for ourselves!"

"More vampires!" Mayor Swellow shrieked. "RETREAT!"

The short politician and the citizens screamed and sprinted back into town. Corey looked behind him and spotted Jackie and Jack running up the hill with the giant apple.

"Follow that fruit!" he and the others turned into bats.

"We're almost there!" Jackie panted.

"Look out!" Jack warned his rival as Kin swooped down to knock the apple out of her hands.

Jackie ducked just in time. Then Jack started to slow down.

"What are you doing?!" Jackie demanded.

"I can't go on…it's too much…just let them have the stinking apple…"

The bats were moving in closer and closer.

"We can't give up now! I'm not ready to lose my favorite band! At least, not again. Now move it Matterson!"

Jack used all of the strength he could muster to reach the top of the hill with the candy apple.

"We made it!" Jackie cried.

Claudius opened the front door for the brunettes and quickly closed it before Grojband and the Newmans could enter. The bats smacked face-first against the door. Jackie and Jack were completely out of breath.

"Here…you…go…" Jackie dropped the apple in front of Claudius and she and Jack collapsed on the floor.

Claudius gasped. "It's beautiful…it's even better than I expected…how I've longed for this day…my dream has finally come true…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Jack interrupted rudely. "A deal's a deal bucko! We brought you the candy apple, now you have to change my band back!"

"And mine too!" Jackie agreed.

"Okay! Fine!" Claudius groaned. "Kids are so demanding these days…"

The candpire strolled over to the front door and opened it again. Grojband and the Newmans flew into the house with rapid speed.

"At last!" Corey's mouth watered when he saw the candy apple.

But just as he and the other seven candpire bats were about to sink their teeth into the caramel-coated delicacy, Claudius snapped his fingers and returned them to normal. The rivals realized that they were floating in mid-air and they all fell to the floor.

"It worked! It worked!" Jack and Jackie cheered.

"Thanks a bunch Claudius!" Jackie acknowledged. "At first I thought you were a nasty, old vampire who eats kids like us for breakfast, but now I see that you're just as sweet as candy!"

Jack shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're not such a bad dude after all."

"Don't thank me." Claudius insisted. "In fact, I'm the one who's really grateful! Thanks to you, I finally have the one treat I've been wishing for for ten years in my possession. I don't even need to make kids give up their candy anymore! This baby could last a lifetime!"

"I'm glad you got what you wanted Claudius." Jackie looked down with disappointment in her eyes. Jack did the same.

"What's the matter?" Claudius was concerned. "Your friends are human again! Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yeah…it's just that…" Jackie began.

"We lost all our Halloween candy…" Jack finished.

"Really?" Claudius chuckled. "Well, I can fix that!"

The candy-eating vampire pulled out two trick-or-treat bags filled with all sorts of candy and sweets.

"Here!"

Jackie looked inside the bag. "Wow! Thanks Claudius!"

"Yeah! You're the best!" Jack agreed.

"Consider it a token of my appreciation!"

Then suddenly, the three of them heard loud groaning. It was coming from Grojband and the Newmans. They looked pale and they were all holding their stomachs.

"Oh…I don't feel-" Kin retched. "-so good…"

"Ugh…what happened?" Carrie whined.

"Too much candy…" Laney guessed.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Larry turned green.

Jack cleared his throat. "Well, uh, this has been fun Claudius, but um, I gotta get these guys home to some antacids."

With that, the brown-haired boy led the Newmans out of Claudius's house. Jackie came up to Grojband and smiled sympathetically.

"Sorry we had to give up our prize guys." she said. "But look at the bright side! We still have a whole bag of candy left! You want some?"

"Don't say 'candy' Jacks…" Corey gagged. "Can't…eat…any…more…oh no…"

All four of the band members went green and then…

**BLARG!**

Jackie winced as Grojband threw up all over her shoes.

"Uh…okay…well…Happy Halloween everyone!" Jackie shut the garage door.

* * *

**38 original chapters left! 34 slots available! **

**Well, it's that time again. Time for me to reveal the next dethroning moment of my Top 10 Grojband Dethroning Moments:**

**#5: We all remember the episode "The Snarffles with Sniffles" (or is it the "The Snuffles with Snarffles"? I have no idea) where Grojband helps a poor sick puppy by making a viral video asking people to donate to him. Cutest episode ever right? Well, it's definitely not one of the smartest. If you recall, Mayor Mellow decides to help out by donating ALL of the town's funds to Snarffles. This causes the town to go bankrupt and everyone is unhappy because of it. Then Mayor Mellow tells Grojband that they just bankrupted the town and he has to get another job. Excuse me? THEY bankrupted the town? First of all, when Grojband made that video telling people to donate their money to Snarffles, they did not mean give up ALL of your money. Secondly, it's not fair to say that they were the ones who made the town go bankrupt when YOU, Mayor Mellow, were the one who filled out that check in the first place! So don't blame it all on the band who just wanted to help a puppy and send an angry mob to their house to tear them limb from limb! If you ask me, the town should have been angry at Mayor Mellow because he was such a blind idiot in this episode. **

**So this is most likely going to be the only chapter I post this week. I have a huge paper due pretty soon and I need to spend some time working on it. I should be able to start writing again next weekend so please be patient until then. I hope all of you had a safe and fun Halloween yesterday! Bye!**


	59. Let the Dance Slip By

**Hey guys. I'm really sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter. This one was extremely difficult for me to write and to top it all off, I've got a ton of papers and a project due soon so I had to spend some time working on those. So sorry if this chapter doesn't meet your standards. This one is based off of another original scenario given to me by AA:**

**"A Sadie-Hawkins Dance is being held in town, causing commotion with both Grojband and the Newmans. Kim tries to work up the courage to ask Jack and Laney tries to ask Corey. And Kin tries to get Jackie to ask him to the dance and Larry tires to get Carrie to ask him. But Corey and Carrie are more interested in fighting over which band gets to play at the dance. Meanwhile, Tracy is trying to ask Rick to the dance but gets interrupted each time."**

**Hope you like what I came up with! Again, sorry if it's not that good.**

* * *

**Chapter 59**

**Let the Dance Slip By**

It was the week after Halloween. November was finally here. This was the month that Tranqulians had been waiting for since New Year's Eve of the past year. Why were they so excited about a plain old month in autumn? Well, I can definitely say they weren't getting excited for Thanksgiving. They were getting excited because this year's November was going to be different from the other ones. This was the year where guys and girls would both get a chance to find their special someones. The year where new couples would be formed and old couples would continue to love each other and be together. But most of all, it was the year where girls would be able to ask boys out for a change. It was the year of the Sadie-Hawkins dance.

So after reading that opening paragraph, I bet I can guess the two questions you're asking yourself right now. 1. What the heck is a Sadie-Hawkins dance? and 2. How does this relate to our dear friends, Jackie Matthews and Grojband? Well 1. the internet is your friend. Use it to your advantage. And 2. Jackie and Grojband were going to be participating in the dance that year. In fact, Jackie had personally asked the mayor if they could provide a few of their songs for the couples to dance to. Naturally, the mayor agreed, but only if they were willing to set up their own equipment. The friends agreed to his conditions and even volunteered to decorate the stage for him.

The five teens were currently at the town community center, getting ready for the big night. Jackie wrapped a long string of lights around the main stage.

"Wow, this is gonna be the best Sadie-Hawkins dance ever!" she said. "And my first one too! I can't wait!"

"Me neither!" Corey agreed. "I mean, I don't really care about all that dancing and mushy stuff. I'm more excited about playing our music all night! We can perform all of our greatest hits!"

"Well, don't you think we should practice our 'greatest hits' so we don't end up looking like complete morons at the dance?" Laney suggested.

Corey gave her a friendly noogie. "You worry too much fella! Everything will be smooth sailing! Especially since we're singing our old songs and don't need any new lyrics! All we really have to do is believe in ourselves!"

Laney blushed a deep crimson color as she gazed at the beanie-wearing kid. Her heart beat rapidly and she smiled. Kin took notice of this and smirked.

"So, I'm guessing you're going to ask Corey to be your date for the dance tonight?"

"What? No! Why would I do that?"

"Laney, c'mon! It's kinda obvious that you like him."

Laney turned even redder. "Well, it would be nice to dance with him tonight. I'm just not sure I can ask for his permission without throwing up."

"Well, I'm going to ask Jackie to dance with me. So if I can do it, you can do it."

Laney stopped blushing and faced the science nerd.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Did you say _you're _going to ask _Jackie _to the dance?"

"Yeah. What? Are you saying I can't do it? Are you saying I don't have the guts to ask the girl of my dreams out on a date? Well, you're wrong! Because unlike you and Corey, Jackie and I are actually taking the time to develop our relationship."

Kon came over to join their conversation.

"What relationship?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.

Kin ignored him. "And because of that, I'm starting to feel more comfortable around her. So asking her to the dance should be no problem for me."

Laney chuckled. "Dude, you obviously didn't do enough research. This is a Sadie-Hawkins dance."

"So?"

"So, according to the Sadie-Hawkins rules, the only ones who are allowed to make requests for dates are girls. Meaning, you can't ask Jackie to the dance. She has to ask you."

Kin's look of confidence turned into one of pure terror.

"And chances of her actually wanting to go on a date with you are pretty slim bro." Kon claimed.

"What? But why?"

"Hey Kin!" Jackie called to her keyboardist.

Kin turned around and saw Jackie holding two different colored dresses.

"Which one should I wear to the dance tonight? Hot pink or cool blue?"

Kin had hearts in his eyes.

"Oh Jackie…either works for me. Because I think you look beautiful no matter what you wear."

"Aw Kin, you always say the nicest things." Jackie wrapped an arm around Kin and patted his back. "You're a real pal."

When Jackie was gone, Kon continued.

"There! That's why Jackie isn't going to ask you to the dance! You're in the friend zone dude!"

"Friend zone?" Kin repeated.

"Yeah. That means if you don't step up your game and quit being shy, Jackie's only gonna think of you as a friend for the rest of her life!"

Kin gasped and tears filled his eyes. "Only as a friend?" he shook his head. "No! Guys! As King Lyricles as my witness, I will get Jackie to ask me to the dance tonight! Because tonight is the night when I will leave the friend zone for good!"

Laney smiled. "Yeah! And it's also the night when Corey and I are finally going to become a couple! I'm gonna ask him to be my date!"

"And I'm going to sit back and watch as you two fail miserably because neither of your crushes likes you back!" Kon exclaimed.

Kin and Laney growled. Kon chuckled nervously.

"Whoops. Um, that last sentence was in my head. I swear."

**THOUGHTS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ITALICIZED!**

Inside one of the community center bathrooms, Macy was helping Tracy put on her makeup for the big event.

"C'mon Macy! The faster you make me look super cute for the dance, the sooner we can go to the mall and pick out an even superer cute dress to match my eyeshadow!"

"This Sadie-Hawkins dance is going to be fun Tracy!" Macy smiled holding up two tickets. "I'm so glad we're going as friends!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tracy interrupted, taking the tickets from her bestie. "Going as friends?! Mace, don't make me laugh! I made you buy these tickets for me and my totally hot date, hunky Rick Salary!"

"Oh…when did you ask him to go with you?"

"I haven't yet. That's why I want to make sure I look extra beautiful when I ask him! There's no way he can say no to this!" Tracy pointed to her face. "Now let's go already!"

Tracy pushed Macy out of the bathroom and looked to her right.

"Gasp! There he is!"

Rick was just getting out of the shower room. Despite having just taken a shower, his hair was completely dry and extra silky.

"Now's my chance!" Tracy shoved Macy aside and went up to her crush. "Hey Rick!"

"Tracy Matthews." Rick smiled. "Rick didn't know you came here."

"Oh yeah. I just love community centers! They're so good for…communing!"

"Yeah. Rick Salary comes here all the time for swim meet."

"Oh, you're on the swim team?"

"Rick coaches the swim team."

_"Sigh."_ Tracy thought. "_He's so committed. This is the perfect time to ask him!_"

"Uh, hey Rick?" Tracy said aloud. "You know that big Sadie-Hawkins dance or whatever that's going on tonight? Well, I was wondering if you'd like to-"

Suddenly, Tracy was interrupted by an ear-splitting guitar riff. It was so loud, that it caused her to shake and hit the floor. Rick just shrugged and walked off, not even bothering to listen to what Tracy had to say. Tracy stood up and covered her ears.

"Argh! Where is that hideous noise coming from?!" she demanded before hearing it again and falling.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Corey was the one making the noise. He was doing a sound check in the main gym.

"Man, these acoustics are amazing!" he noted. "This dance is gonna be epic!"

"Yeah. It sure is Core." Laney blushed. "And speaking of the dance, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure Lanes! Ask me anything!"

"Well, I was thinking…and it's totally cool if you say no…that maybe…if you don't mind…"

"Shh…" Corey pressed a finger to her lips. "Lanes. You don't have to say anything else. The answer is yes."

Laney smiled big. "R-r-really?!" her heart began to beat again.

"Yeah! I'm sure the couples would love to hear you sing the song you and Jackie sang at Lady Rage! I mean, it's not that romantic, but it's definitely something to dance to! You'll kill it dude!"

Laney frowned and looked down in embarrassment. Tracy was watching them from the side doors.

"What?! What is my sickening sister and her grody band doing here? Whatever the reason is, they are so not going to get in the way of my big night with Rick! MACY!"

Macy zipped up to the teenaged brat.

"I need you to make a phone call for me!" Tracy ordered.

Macy nodded and took out her phone.

"O-Of course Tracy! Um, who do you want me to call?"

"Your brother…"

"My brother?"

"You'll see…" Tracy giggled wickedly.

**TRACY'S GOT AN EVIL PLAN!**

Kin peeked around the corner of the stage in the gym. He was watching Jackie set up balloons all by herself. The young scientist knew that this was his chance to convince Jackie to be his dance partner. This was his chance to get her to think of him as something more than a friend. He began to sweat nervously and he gulped. Then, he summoned all of his courage and walked up to her. He cleared his throat and smiled.

"Uh…hi Jackie…"

"Hey Kin." Jackie said, not batting an eye.

Kin started to whistle for he was feeling a little awkward. Then he said:

"So…are you excited for the dance?"

"Oh you know it!" Jackie replied.

"Planning on going with anybody?" Kin hinted.

"Of course! I'll be going with you, Corey, Laney, and Kon!"

"No, no, no! I mean…like going on a date."

"Oh. I'm not sure. I never really thought about asking anybody out since I already made plans to spend the night with you guys."

Kin giggled. "Yeah, I can understand that. It's just…well…I know somebody who would really, really, REALLY like to go to the dance with you."

"Oh really?"

"That's what I said."

"Huh. I wish I had known. Who is this person Kin?"

"Well, he's about five feet tall."

"Uh-huh."

"And he has black hair."

"Yes?"

"And he wears glasses."

"Go on."

"He's smart, funny, and extremely handsome."

"Okay."

"But most of all, he thinks you're the most beautiful girl in town and he would give anything to go on a date with you."

"Wow, he seems very nice."

"I know. So I guess what I'm trying to say is…would you ask this guy to the dance?"

"Hm…" Jackie thought about it. "Yes! Definitely!"

Kin gasped and hearts filled his eyes.

"But, do you think you could ask him to meet me first?"

The hearts in Kin's eyes broke in half.

"What?"

"Yeah, he sounds cool and all, but I don't know if I'd feel comfortable dating somebody I hardly know. I'd like to get to know him before I ask him out. Hey, since you're such an awesome friend, maybe you could introduce me!"

"Uh…yeah…I'll definitely do that…"

"Thanks a bunch Kin! You're the best!" Jackie hugged her keyboardist and went back to tying balloons.

"Friend zone…" Kon sang.

"Shut up…" Kin mumbled.

Once Jackie had finished setting up the balloons, the gymnasium was completely decorated.

"Wow! This place looks great Jacks!" Corey commented.

"Thanks Core! And it's gonna be even better when it's-"

Jackie was then interrupted by a loud door slam. She and Grojband looked over to where they heard the sound and saw a dark figure standing near the doorway. They all gasped. Then the figure walked into the light and revealed himself to be Jackie's worst enemy/gender opposite, Jack Matterson.

"Whoa, is anybody else getting this strange feeling of deja vu?" Kon wondered.

"What are you nerds doing here?" Jack snorted. "Go find your own dance to play your lame music at! This is my band's gig!"

Jackie got into Jack's face. "First of all, my band's music is not lame! And second, what makes you think this is your band's gig?"

"Belinda called me and said that my band was going to play here tonight."

"Who's Belinda?"

"Seriously? You've known me for like ten years! How could you not know who my sister is?"

"Wait, you mean Macy?"

"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting she goes by that other name now." Jack faced the opposite direction. "The one that your nasty sister made her change it to just so their names would rhyme or some junk. I've never forgiven her for that. And I haven't forgiven her for all of the agony she's put my favorite big sister through either. I've decided to let everything slide for now since being friends with that beast has given my sis a huge rise in popularity. But someday…oh someday…I'm going to return the favor…"

"Yeah, you can do whatever you want to Tracy. I don't care." Jackie interrupted. "But one thing's for sure, me and my band were here first! So you're just gonna have to accept the fact that this is their gig and leave!"

Jack snapped his fingers and the Newmans entered. Carrie stepped forward.

"Or maybe you could get out of our sight before we kick you out ourselves!"

"Ha!" Corey met up with Carrie. "You and what army?"

Carrie held up her arms. "These armies! And my two fisties as well!"

Larry and Laney came up behind their leaders/crushes.

"Uh, hey Carrie? Can we talk for a minute?"

"Not now Larry! I'm negotiating!"

"Core? I need to ask you some-"

"Later Lanes! I've gotta teach this Newman a lesson!" Corey looked back at Carrie. "You can totally play your stupid music here Beff! That is, if you're willing to play your guitar without fingers!"

"You call that a threat?" Carrie retorted. "I'll show you how it's really done! If you even try to play here tonight, then your band won't just lose their fingers, they'll lose all of their limbs too!"

"Oh no you don't! You're not going anywhere near my band! Because I'm gonna take one for the team! Defeat me, and you defeat all of us!"

"Oh? Is that a challenge?"

"If that's the way you want things to go, then yes!"

"Fine! Then why don't we have a duel? You against me! Whoever wins gets the honor of playing at the Sadie-Hawkins dance!"

"You're on! I'm gonna totally cream you! Just let me tune my guitar real quick and I'll be ready!"

Carrie laughed. "Uh, I didn't say we were having a solo contest, now did I?"

"Wait, what?"

"No. Music fights are so old school. We're gonna have a wrestling match instead!"

Corey gulped. "Wrestling?"

"What's the matter Riffin? Too scared to fight a girl?"

"No! Of course not! It's just that…I've never wrestled anybody before…"

"Oh. That's fine then. Hope you'll come listen to us tonight at the dance." Carrie was about to leave but Corey stopped her.

"Us? Listen to you? No way! I accept your challenge!"

Laney and Larry gasped.

"Good! Meet back here at 2:30 sharp! If you're late, we win by default!"

"Don't worry! I'll be here!"

Carrie nodded and walked out the doors. Larry followed her.

"Care! Are you crazy? What if you lose?"

"Lars, as long as I've got the love of my fellow Newmans powering me, I can't lose." Carrie wrapped an arm around Larry which made him blush.

"True…" Larry sighed.

"Core! What have you done?!" Laney cried. "You can't take on Carrie!"

"Aw man! You're right Lanes!" Corey squeezed Laney tightly. "Hold me!"

Hearts popped out of the redhead.

Kim and Kin, meanwhile, stepped up to Jackie and Jack.

"You're going down Matthews!" Jack taunted.

"Nuh-uh! You're going down Matterson! Corey's gonna crush Carrie like a cockroach!"

"Uh, Jackie?" Kin muttered under his breath.

"Oh really? What do you say we have a little wager then? You know, just to make things more interesting?"

"How much?"

"That depends. How much you got?"

Jackie reached into her pocket and counted her money.

"Jack?" Kim mumbled.

"Fifty bucks."

"Perfect! I've got fifty too!"

"Jackie?" Kin went again.

"Okay. So that means the one with the losing lead singer has to fork over his money!"

"Her money!" Jack corrected.

"Fine! His or her money! Do we have a deal?"

Jack shook hands with Jackie. "You're so on!"

"Jack?" Kim spoke a bit louder.

"Well, looks like I'm going to walk out of here one hundred bucks richer!" Jack claimed.

"Oh? And what makes you so sure Carrie's going to win?"

"Because unlike Corey, Carrie's actually taken wrestling in the past." Jack showed his rival a newspaper. The picture on the front page was of Carrie on top of a larger wrestler. "She's practically the champ of the neighborhood!"

Jackie scoffed. "Oh, nice _real _newsprint. Who made that for you? Your mommy?"

"Jackie?"

"Jack?"

"What?!" the managers shouted simultaneously at their keyboardists.

"Uh…" Kim struggled with her words.

"I just wanted to say that…" Kin struggled as well.

"What is it Kin?" Jackie asked.

"Spit it out Kim!' Jack demanded.

"I…I…" Kim stammered.

"I just wanted to ask you if…" Kin began.

The two of them grew silent and then finally they sighed.

"Never mind…" they both said before walking away. Jackie and Jack went back to arguing with each other.

"There's no way I can do this…" Kim told Kin. "I've been meaning to ask Jack to the dance for a whole week, but no matter what, I just can't seem to work up my courage."

"Hey, at least you can actually ask Jack to go with you." Kin pointed out. "There's no way Jackie's going to ask me. Not while I'm in the friend zone."

"Really? You too?"

Kin nodded.

Konnie and Kon had been watching their bandmates the whole time. They sat on the stage in complete and utter silence.

"Man, I hate being left out." Kon said.

"Yeah, me too." Konnie agreed.

There was a pause.

"Wanna go get some churros?" Kon offered.

"Okay!"

And so the two drummers made their exit.

**CHURROS TASTE SO GOOD!**

Tracy was sitting outside the pool room watching Rick Salary coach the swim team. She drooled over how much he was showing off his abs. At that point, she was internally begging for Rick to say yes to her big question. All she had to do was go up to him and ask it. So she slowly and gently pulled the door to the pool room open and stepped inside. Then she carefully walked over to where Rick was standing. She was just about to say hello when she heard a voice from behind her.

"TRACY!" Macy yelled, rushing up to meet her BFF. She grabbed ahold of her heart so she could catch her breath. "Tracy…I…I need to…"

"Macy! You totally ruined the moment! I was just about to ask Rick to be my date to the Sadie-Hawkins dance!" Tracy scolded.

"I'm sorry Tracy…" Macy panted. "But I need to tell you something…"

"Macy, you clearly don't understand what's going on here! This is my big opportunity to get Rick to fall in love with me, become my boyfriend, take me to Paris for our twentieth date, propose to me, marry me, have two kids that look just like us, teach those kids how to be complete monsters, leave the kids with Jackie so they can torment her for the rest of her life, buy a beach house in Florida for the two of us to live in, and spend the rest of his days loving me and getting me whatever I want! So this 'thing' that you 'have to' tell me had better be important."

"Oh, it is Tracy!" Macy promised. "I just overheard my brother's lead singer challenge the lead singer of Grojband and they're going to have a wrestling match to see who gets to sing at the dance tonight!"

Tracy was shocked. She picked up Macy by her shirt.

"Macy! You have got to learn to tell me these things right away! Now c'mon! Let's go!"

"Go? Where are we going?"

"To make sure Beanie Boy loses that match so his band's music doesn't spoil my evening!"

"I'm not sure we really have to Tracy. Apparently Jackie's lead singer has never wrestled anybody before. He'll probably choke during the first round and end up quitting before the whole thing even starts!"

"Ha! Now that I would like to see!" Tracy snickered. And then she got an idea. "Hey, wait a second! Rick loves wrestling! I bed he'd like to see Ol' Blue Hair lose as much as I would! I've got it! I'll invite Rick to come with me to the match and whenever he's not watching that stupid singer get piledrived, I can ask him to the dance! It's totally foolproof!"

"But, if you're going to ask Rick to come to the wrestling match with you, why don't you just ask him to the dance then?"

"Shut up Macy! You don't know anything about being romantic!"

At exactly 2:30 pm, a ring was set up in the middle of the gym. Corey and Carrie were ready to face-off against each other. Well, at least Carrie was ready. Corey looked absolutely terrified. Jackie and Jack were watching in anticipation and Kim and Kin were standing in between them blushing anxiously. Kon and Konnie were eating churros on the main stage. Mayor Swellow was sitting in a chair holding a bag of popcorn and the picture of his mother.

"Man, I love me a good old-fashioned wrestling competition, don't you mother? There's nothing like watching two sweaty kids strangle each other until one of em begs for mercy!"

Tracy and Rick were seated side-by-side in their own chairs. Tracy scooted hers a bit closer to Rick's.

Larry stood behind Carrie and began to massage her shoulders.

"Care, listen. I know you really, really, really wanna play at this dance, but don't you think you and Corey could settle this conflict in a nonviolent way?"

"It's too late for that Lars. Riffin's had this coming for a long time." Carrie cracked her knuckles.

Corey meanwhile, was starting to sweat and Laney was becoming concerned.

"Core, you don't have to go through with this, you know. There'll be other dances to play at. Why don't you just call the whole thing off?"

"I can't Lanes! This gig is really important to me! If I quit now, not only will I look like a wimp, I'll look like a complete failure!"

"You're not a failure Core! And you're not a wimp either! We'll understand if you wanna give up!"

"Oh, did you hear that guys?" Carrie butted in. "Looks like Corey's decided to chicken out! Guess that means we get to provide the music at the dance tonight!"

Corey clenched his fists. "No! I'm not gonna let you win that easy! Let's do this!"

"Fine. You asked for it." Carrie smiled evilly and ripped off her regular clothes, revealing a wrestling singlet. Corey gasped.

"Fight!" Jack rang a bell and the match commenced.

Carrie let out a war cry and charged for her gender opposite. Corey had no idea what to do so he just stood still in fear as Carrie jumped onto his back and choked him with her arm. Laney gasped at the awful sight. As soon as Corey turned blue, Carrie let go of him and he collapsed on the floor. Then she got on top of the ropes, lifted her arm, and slammed it into Corey's back.

Jackie and Kin cringed.

"He's getting creamed!" Jackie observed.

"Yes! In your face Matthews!" Jack gloated while picking up his chair. "Hey Carrie! Catch!"

The manager tossed his chair over to his lead singer, who had pinned down Corey and was holding his leg back. She stood up, caught the chair, and attacked her opponent with it.

Tracy laughed. "This is so much fun! Isn't it Rick?"

Rick nodded. "Rick Salary enjoys these kinds of sports. Thanks for telling him about it T."

"Sure! And like, since we're both here and sitting super close to each other, I was hoping I could ask you a question. A question that I've been dying to ask you all day."

Carrie continued hitting Corey with Jack's chair until it broke. She then tossed it out of the ring and it flew right at Tracy and Rick.

"Rick Salary? Will you be my date for the Sadie-Hawkins dance?"

Rick slowly looked over at Tracy. She had a big smile on her face and her eyes were lit up. Rick was just about to answer her when…

**BANG!**

The chair Carrie had thrown hit him right in the face and he fainted.

"Rick? Rick?! RICK! No! I was so close! So close! Why do these things always have to happen to me?!" Tracy burst into tears.

Carrie didn't even notice this, however, because she was too busy pinning Corey to the ground again.

"Well Riffin, looks like the Newmans are the victors this time! And wouldn't you know it? Even though you didn't quit, you still turned out to be a wimp and a failure!"

Corey just whimpered in response.

"Core!" Laney called from outside the ring. "I know you're kind of in a jam right now, but there's something I've been meaning to ask you!"

"Well do you have to ask me now Lanes?" Corey replied.

"Yes! You wouldn't give me a chance all those other times!" Laney took a deep breath. "Corey Jaron Riffin? Will you go to the dance with me?"

Corey was utterly shocked when he heard these words. So shocked, in fact, that he managed to push Carrie off of him and stand up.

"You want _me_ to go to the dance with _you_?"

Laney blushed. "Well…yeah…is that cool?"

Corey reached his hand out and pulled Laney into the ring.

"Lanes, I thought you'd never ask…"

The two of them smiled at each other and held hands. Carrie got up and saw how happy they both looked.

"What?! Riffin gets a date for the dance and I don't? No fair!" Carrie looked behind her and saw Larry smiling and waving at her. "Congratulations Larry. You're my dance partner."

Larry was astonished. "Whoa, really?! Uh, I mean, uh…sweet…heh, heh…" the short boy blushed as he and Carrie stepped out of the ring.

"Carrie! What are you doing?!" Jack shouted. "Get back in there and finish him!"

It was at that moment Kim spoke up. "You know Jack, maybe we shouldn't worry about which one of us gets to play at the dance. After all, we can jam out wherever and whenever we want. An event like this, on the other hand, doesn't come every day. I feel like we need to take advantage of times like these and savor them as much as we can. This whole time I've been trying to ask you if you wanted to dance with me tonight. But you were so caught up in our rivalry that I decided not to. I really don't care about the band right now Jack. I just want to spend some time with you." the girl in glasses looked down sadly.

Jack didn't know what to say at first. He looked down at his keyboardist and started to think about what she had said to him. Then he looked back over at Jackie and thought some more. Then, he gave a wicked smile.

"Guess what Matthews?" Jack wrapped his arm around Kim. "I've got a date for the dance tonight and you don't! What do you think about that?"

"I think you're wrong Matterson!" Jackie took Kin by the hand. "Because I'm going with Kin! And since our last wager didn't work out for either one of us, I think we should make a new one! I bet all the money in your pocket that I have a better time at the dance than you do!"

"Oh, it is on!"

"Uh, excuse me?" Mayor Swellow joined their conversation. "I hate to interrupt ya'll's bickering, but we still need someone to provide the music for tonight!"

Jackie and Jack let go of their keyboardists and scratched their chins.

"Hm…"

Later, after the music situation was all sorted out, the dance was ready to begin. Mayor Swellow took the stage and spoke into a microphone.

"Good evening Tranquil Town and welcome to our semi biennial Sadie-Hawkins Day Extravaganza! We hope ya'll are ready for a hoedown, because tonight we're playing a selection of greatest hits from Grojband and the Newmans!"

The politician held up a CD and inserted it into a boombox. All of the couples started dancing to "You're So Untrue".

"Ooh, look at how much fun I'm having Matthews!" Jack bragged as he spun Kim around.

"Ha! You call that fun? Look at me!" Jackie took Kin by the hand and swung him right into Kim.

"Best night ever, huh?" Kin asked Kim lovestruck.

"Oh yeah…" Kim agreed before both of their dates pulled them away.

Kon and Konnie were over near the snack table, helping themselves to some churros. Tracy was there too, along with Macy.

"Really sorry about what happened with Rick, Tracy." Macy apologized while dancing. "But at least that other ticket didn't go to waste! We're gonna have the best time together, am I right?"

Tracy just scowled, poured some punch into a cup, and dumped it over Macy's head.

Larry was dancing beside Carrie on the dance floor.

"C'mon Care, aren't you gonna dance?"

"I refuse to dance to Grojband's music Larry." she folded her arms. "Wait until one of our songs comes on."

"Oh." Larry stopped dancing. "Okay."

Corey and Laney held each other's hands as they danced.

"Wow Lanes, I forgot how awesome you sounded during this song." Corey said. "I still would have preferred you singing it on stage though."

"Yeah, me too." Laney turned red. "But I think actually dancing with someone at a dance is a lot more fun, don't you?"

"Yeah…"

The two of them closed their eyes and leaned in slowly. They were just about to kiss until Corey opened his eyes.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Thanks for coming out everyone!" he shoved Laney away and closed the garage door.

* * *

**37 original scenarios left! 32 slots available! **

**I hope to get the next two chapters out sooner since I already have an idea on how I'm going to write them. In the meantime, here's number 4 of my Top 10 Grojband Dethroning Moments.**

**#4: This horrible scene, like the last one, also comes from the episode "The Snarffles with Sniffles". I actually had a hard time deciding which moment was worse because I hate both of them a lot. In the end I made this one number 4. This scene takes place right after the band makes a song for Wheelie the cat and makes him the most popular animal in town. Something he definitely does not deserve. But the fact that an evil, heartless cat got what he wanted in the end isn't what makes this a dethroning moment for me. What does, however, is what Mayor Mellow does to Snarffles after he sees the video. When the tiny jerk finds out that Wheelie is the new thing, he gives Snarffles a mean glare and tosses him onto the street. Then the poor little puppy is powerless to do anything as a hungry vulture swoops down and takes him away. That moment almost made me cry and I had no idea what the writers were thinking when they wrote this episode. I really hate when cute and innocent things get punished for something when they didn't do anything to cause it or didn't mean any harm by it. To me, Snarffles is one of those things. I don't know the name of the person who wrote this episode, but whoever you are, you should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking of putting this on TV.**

**Okay, well, I guess that's all I have for you now! See you all again soon!**


	60. Manager Madness

**Well, here it is! The sixtieth chapter is finished and ready to be read! The wait is finally over! Just a heads up though, it's a long one. Make sure you have time to read the whole thing. **

**This chapter's scenario was given to me by Audrey Nantel and she said:**

**"What if a big time celebrity comes to Tranquil Town and wants Jackie to be only his manager and gives an offer that know one can refuse"**

**I know I said I had a good idea of how to formulate this chapter, but it actually took me quite a while to get it finished. That being said, I hope it is worth the wait.**

* * *

**Chapter 60**

**Manager Madness**

Grojband was sitting on the couch one day watching the news on TV.

"And so, after spending millions of hours on research, our scientists have concluded that dry wood is indeed easier to saw than wet wood." Buster Newsworthy reported.

"Ugh…this is so boring." Corey commented. "I thought the news was supposed to be about celebrities and music and other cool stuff happening in stardom!"

Laney nodded. "Yeah, and why of all things would they talk about which kind of wood is easier to saw? I mean, doesn't everybody already know this stuff? The news just isn't what it used to be."

"If you ask me, it should be called 'the olds'. Am I right?" Kon held out his hand expecting a high-five but no one gave him one.

"And now that we've gotten the boring stuff out of the way, let's move on to our top story in celebrity gossip!" Buster continued.

"Finally!" Corey groaned.

"After his newest song, 'Come Soar the Skies', failed to top the charts in his home city of Stew Fork, famous singer, Hank Sonata, is seeking a manager to assist him in his quest for fame in Tranquil Town!" Destiny Providence said. "So if you're into supervising and administrating, you'd better make yourself known because Sonata is taking job interviews today! Think you have what it takes to serve the man with the golden voice? You'll find out soon enough!"

The TV then started playing one of Hank Sonata's music videos.

"Meh. He doesn't sound that great." Corey noted.

"Of course you don't think so." Laney glared. "Since you have to believe that you're the best at singing. I think he's really good. And kinda handsome too."

"Yeah!" Kon agreed. "That Hank Sonata guy is definitely going places!"

Then suddenly, the garage door burst open and Jackie ran in.

"Hank Sonata?! Where?! Where is he?!"

"He's coming to Tranquil Town to find a new manager." Corey explained.

"Yeah, we heard it on the news." Laney added.

Jackie ran up to the TV where Hank was singing on the screen.

"No way…Hank Sonata…is coming here…to find a new manager?!" Jackie squeezed the TV into a hug. "I don't believe it! This is a dream come true!"

"What does it matter to you Jackie?" Kin asked. "You're already a manager. You manage us, remember?"

Jackie just sighed and hugged the TV even harder. Corey stepped in front of her.

"Hello? Jacks? Earth to Jackie! Come back to us!"

When Jackie didn't respond, Laney decided to take action.

"SNAP OUT OF IT JACKS!" she screamed.

"Ow!" Jackie let go of the TV and held her ear. "Huh? What happened?"

"You spaced out for a second cause of Hank Sonata." Kon told her.

"Hank Sonata?" Jackie chuckled. "Who's that? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"But didn't you say-" Laney started but got interrupted.

"Hey, I just remembered something!" Jackie headed for the door. "I need to go take out the uh…um, I mean I have to wash my…see, it's my turn to fold the…gottagobye!"

With that, the manager zipped out of the garage and slammed the door.

"What's gotten into her?" Laney wondered.

"It kinda sounded like she was hiding something." Kin said before gasping. "What if something terrible happened to her? What if she's upset? What if she's hurt? We have to help her!"

"I don't know bro. Didn't sound like she was hurt to me." Kon responded.

"That's because you're not very observant Kon. Everybody knows that someone who acts incredibly nervous, pretends that nothing is wrong, and comes up with some crazy excuses to get out of talking, has a problem! And according to my medical research, Jackie is showing all of the symptoms of 'a friend in need'!"

"So, what do we do about it, Doctor?" Laney asked sarcastically.

"There's only one way to cure a hidden conflict. Jackie needs our moral support. So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go find her, ask her what's wrong, listen to what she has to say, and then we'll give her as many caring words and motivational statements as we can!"

"Wait! I've got a better idea!" Corey claimed. "Instead of asking about her problems, let's follow her discreetly, watch what she does, and then figure everything out ourselves!"

"Yeah!" Kon yelled. "That's my kind of plan!"

"Now Corey, let's not be too hasty." Kin lectured. "Jackie is our friend. We shouldn't be spying on her. We should be gently encouraging her to tell us her feelings. And if she doesn't, then we have to respect her decision and find some other way to help her. Following her everywhere would be an invasion of her privacy and we wouldn't want her to feel viola-"

Kin looked around and saw that everyone else had already left. Kon stuck his head out the door.

"Are you coming or what?"

Kin sighed and figuring he had no choice, went after his friends.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Jackie was upstairs, silently creeping toward her bedroom. She looked around to make sure no one was following her and when she found that the coast was clear, she gently opened her door and slipped inside. Little did she know that Grojband was hiding behind a corner, watching her the whole time.

"You know guys, maybe Kin is right." Laney whispered. "Maybe we shouldn't spy on Jackie. After all, she might not want us to know about something."

"Yeah! She could be planning a surprise birthday party!" Kon hoped.

"But it's none of our birthdays." Kin pointed out.

"Aww…"

"C'mon Lanes!" Corey persuaded the red-haired bassist. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

The four of them crawled over to Jackie's bedroom door, without making a sound. Corey slowly cracked the door open, causing it to make a squeaky noise. Jackie heard this and turned around, but luckily the band ducked before she could see them. Figuring it was just her imagination, the brunette shrugged it off and walked over to one of the Grojband posters on her wall. Grojband peeked inside and watched as their manager took the poster down. They were all surprised to see a number pad hiding behind it. Jackie entered a code into the number pad and then a square of the wall slid down, revealing some sort of odd machinery. Grojband gasped.

"How did Jackie's parents afford such tight security?" Kon wondered.

Jackie pressed her hand to the sensor and it performed a scan. Then a retina scanner came out and scanned Jackie's right eye.

"Voice recognition password?" the machine went.

"I've got a crazy plan that just might work!" Jackie answered.

"Hey! That's my catchphrase!" Corey cried.

"Shh!" Everyone else scolded.

When the software confirmed Jackie's voice, it revealed a hidden safe inside the wall. Jackie leaned her ear against the safe and twisted the knob so she could open it. Grojband covered their eyes as a flashy light came out of the safe.

"Whoa…"

Inside the safe were several pictures of Hank Sonata. Many of them were covered with tiny heart stickers and some had hearts drawn over them. The biggest one was placed way in the back for Jackie to see. She took the picture out and held it to her heart.

"Oh Hanky…" she sighed. "I've been waiting for this day…now at long last we're going to meet!"

"Aww…" Laney cooed. "She's got a crush! That's super cute!"

Kin grumbled for he was feeling a little jealous.

"Huh, I never pictured Jackie as the crushy type." Kon added.

"So that's why she was acting so weird just now!" Corey concluded. "It all makes sense!"

"I still don't see what the big deal is." Kin grumped. "Hank Sonata's just a dumb, dorky old man. I have no idea what Jackie sees in him. I mean, what's he got that I don't got?"

"Perfect vision? A good singing voice? Jackie's heart?" Kon listed on his fingers.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Grojband ran downstairs to see who was there. They were all surprised to see two men in tuxedos standing on the front porch.

"Uh, can we help you gentlemen?" Corey asked.

Neither of the men answered. Instead, they both stepped aside and revealed a somewhat shorter man with blonde hair in a ponytail and sunglasses covering his eyes. Grojband gasped.

"Is this the home of Jackie Matthews?" the man questioned after clearing his throat. "I've come to interview her for I hear she is one of this town's best managers."

"Who are you?" Kon was dumbfounded.

"You don't know?" the man lowered his glasses. "I always said this town was full of ignorant people. I am the one, the only, Hank Sonata."

"EEEEEE!" Jackie squealed and ran downstairs. On the way, she pushed Kin down and stepped on his head.

"Oof!" Kin grunted in pain.

"Oh my gosh!" Jackie cried. "The real Hank Sonata is in my house! This is so awesome!"

"Ah, and I assume you are Jackie Matthews, correct?" Hank guessed.

"Oh yes!" Jackie nodded. "And I must say, it's a pleasure to meet you…Hanky…"

"Excuse me?" Hank was confused and offended.

"Oh! Uh, I mean…Mr. Sonata!" Jackie blushed and twisted her hair nervously. "So, I suppose you're here to interview me?"

"Yes…how did you know?"

"Oh, that's easy! I read your previous dialo-I mean, I heard it on the news."

"Of course." Hank snapped his fingers and his two bodyguards pulled up a chair for him. "I'm just going to ask you a few questions Miss Matthews."

Jackie giggled. "Please, call me Jackie!"

"I'd rather not." Hank muttered under his breath. "Okay, question 1: Have you worked in the career of management before?"

"Yes sir!" Jackie nodded cheerfully. Kin stood up and held his head while the others watched in anticipation.

"Good. Question 2: Do you have any experience with singers and/or musicians?"

Jackie looked behind her and saw Grojband with big smiles on their faces.

"Absolutely!" she answered.

"Uh-huh. Question 3: Do you own your own clip-"

Jackie had already shoved her clipboard in Hank's face before he had the chance to finish his question.

"Not bad." Hank observed, standing up from his chair. "Well, that's all the questions I have and I must say, I think you'll do an adequate job as my manager."

Jackie gasped excitedly. "Really? Oh gosh sir, that's a compliment coming from you! So, when do I start?"

One of the bodyguards handed Hank a calendar and he flipped through it.

"Oh, let me see…well I've got a concert coming up on Tuesday and a charity event on Friday…not to mention three TV show appearances the following week…so your career as my manager begins…immediately."

Hank's bodyguards grabbed Jackie by her arms and dragged her toward the door. But just as they were about to exit, Grojband blocked their path.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Corey yelled. "She's our manager!"

"Oh is that so?" Hank raised an eyebrow. "And who might you be?"

"The name's Corey Riffin, front man of the greatest band in Tranquil Town, Grojband!" Corey and the others did cool poses.

"Oh. A rock band, eh?"

"That's right!" Corey nodded. "We're the stars around here! And you can't just barge into our house and take Jackie away!"

"And why not?"

"Well for one thing, she may not want to work for you!" Laney argued.

"Nonsense! Everybody wants to work for me!" Hank insisted. "I'm a celebrity! I'm adored by thousands of people from all over the country! How many people adore you?"

Corey scoffed. "Lots! There's Kelsey and Alyssa and…uh…um…well…"

"Wow. Two fans. How impressive." Hank noted sarcastically. "Now move aside peasants and quit wasting my time."

"Wait! Just because you have more fans, doesn't mean Jackie would pick you over us!" Corey declared. "After all, we are her band!"

"Band? What band?" Jackie gazed into Hank's eyes. "I don't have a band. I've never seen those guys before in my life!"

Grojband was very shocked by these words.

"I really, really, REALLY wanna be your manager Mr. Sonata! Please, oh please, oh PLEASE let me be your manager!" Jackie begged.

"Well, that settles that." Hank announced. "Gentlemen?"

Hank's bodyguards picked up Jackie's former band and tossed them aside. Then Hank and Jackie walked right out the front door.

"It's such an honor to be your manager, Mr. Sonata!" Jackie hugged the man's legs. "You won't be sorry you chose me! I promise you that!"

"Don't touch me." Hank pushed Jackie off of him.

"Oh. Okay!" Jackie grinned as she followed the celebrity to his limousine.

Grojband stood silently as they watched the limo drive away from their house.

"Wow…" Corey said. "That's rough…and here I thought Jackie was always loyal to her friends."

"Well, guess we're not good enough for her anymore." Laney crossed her arms. "Since she left us for that total snob and everything."

"Jackie left us? She's gone?" Kin worried.

"Yep." Corey replied. "Hank Sonata took her away. She's his manager now…"

"His manager?" Kin repeated.

"Yeah, and judging by how happy she looked just now, she's not coming back anytime soon."

"Not coming back?" Tears formed in Kin's eyes and he whimpered.

"Kin? Are you okay?" Laney was concerned.

"What's wrong with you, dude?" Corey chimed in.

"Jackie is Hank Sonata's manager now? And she's never coming back? Never, ever, ever, never?" Kin's eyes began to swell up.

"Uh-oh…" Kon mumbled.

"…BWAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Kin wailed loudly as giant waterfalls came pouring out of his eyes. Clearly, he was not handling the betrayal of his true love very well. He cried so much that the entire house filled up with his tears and the other band members were soon floating underwater. Laney swam over to the front door and opened it, causing all of the tears to flow outside. She, Corey, and Kon washed up on the grass.

"Sheesh, Jackie's parents aren't gonna like this." Corey said.

**GOOD THING THEY'RE NOT IN THIS CHAPTER!**

The two bodyguards were driving the limousine out of the neighborhood. Hank and Jackie were seated in the way back of the car. Jackie couldn't help but smile at how close she was to her idol.

"You have a very nice limo Mr. Sonata." she commented.

"Mm-hm." Hank replied, not really listening.

"These seats are really comfy! Are they made out of real leather? I love them so much!"

Hank just groaned and leaned his cheek on his right hand.

"And your bodyguards are such gentlemen!" Jackie kept going. "They both knew to grab me by only one of my arms! So polite! Anyway, I just wanted to say how excited I am to be working with you! I've been a fan of your music since I was seven! Your greatest hit 'I Don't Feel Old When I'm With You' makes me smile every time I hear it! Oh, and I also own your Christmas album! I listen to it every year during the holidays! Of course, I own all of your albums! Did I mention how much I love your cover songs? I think they're just-"

"PLEASE!" Hank screamed. "Stop…talking! My beautiful ears can't take any more chatter!"

"Oh. Okay." Jackie sat quietly for a few seconds. Then she asked. "Mr. Sonata?"

"What?!"

"Where are we going exactly?"

Hank sighed. "If you must know, to my private fall mansion. It's where we'll be staying for the rest of the week."

"You have a private mansion in Tranquil Town, Mr. Sonata?"

"Of course! I have mansions all over the country! That's how rich I am. This one's got twenty bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, nine kitchens, eight televisions, and seven garages for my seven cars."

"Wow! Seven whole garages? That's amazing! My house only has one garage! Except, we don't really use it for cars. We use it for Grojband's music rehearsals!"

"Rehearsals? In a garage?" Hank snorted. "Well I can clearly see why you decided to leave that horrid place you call home! Real stars don't rehearse their music in filthy garages! But I suppose even an airhead like you knew that."

"Um…I guess so…" Jackie shrugged, trying to ignore the insult.

Hank lowered his sunglasses. "Finally. We're here."

The limousine drove through an iron gate and up a large hill where a huge mansion was sitting. Jackie looked out her window and gazed in awe at the mansion. The bodyguards parked the limo into one of the garages and then they opened the car doors for Hank and Jackie.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Jackie exclaimed. "I love this place already!"

"Well, at least you don't complain. Boys? Get my luggage from the trunk." Hank ordered.

The next thing Jackie knew, she was walking through the long, sparkling halls of the mansion.

"I can't believe I'm going to be staying in a mansion for a whole week!" Jackie said while carrying one of Hank's bags. "It'll be just like a sleepover! We're going to have the best time together, aren't we Hanky-I mean, aren't we Mr. Sonata?"

"Just go with it Hank old boy…it'll all be worth it…" Hank muttered under his breath.

"So, what are we doing first?"

"Well, I suppose I'm going to have to show you where you'll be sleeping." Hank walked up to a solid gold door and turned the knob. When the door opened, it revealed a beautiful looking master bedroom.

"Wow…" Jackie gasped. "This room is great! It's so pretty and shiny! And look at the size of that bed! Thanks so much Mr. Sonata! Whee!"

The brunette was just about to jump on the bed until Hank stopped her.

"Not so fast!" he demanded. "This is not your room, it's mine. I just brought you here to drop off my bags."

"Oh…" Jackie was a little disappointed. "Then, where am I going to sleep?"

"Boys?" Hank summoned his bodyguards. "Kindly escort Miss Matthews to her room please."

The bodyguards nodded and then they took Jackie to…the attic. Also known as the one place in the entire mansion that didn't look luxurious. The bed was just a lump of hay with a pillow, the floorboards were coming loose, and there were cobwebs and dust everywhere.

"I must admit, you're really lucky." one of the bodyguards said.

"Yeah, Hank usually makes his managers sleep outside in a dog house." the other one explained. "But not you. You must be special."

"Oh, and before we forget." the first bodyguard rolled out an extremely long list. "Your chores for the day."

"Managers get chores?" Jackie was dumbfounded.

The second bodyguard chuckled. "Hank's managers do!" And then they both left.

Jackie picked up the list and started reading it.

"Number 1…dust first floor hallway…number 2…dust second floor hallway…number 3…dust third floor hallway…number 4…dust elevators…" the young girl sighed and read the rest of the list silently. She was starting to believe that working for her favorite celebrity wasn't as fun as she thought. But she did as the list told her and got to work dusting the hallways. And while she worked, she kept thinking about what Grojband was doing at the time and how they were getting along without her.

Well, it shouldn't come as a surprise that they were doing terrible. Since she had left them, their rehearsals had not been going well. Actually, the band hadn't rehearsed at all since their beloved manager betrayed them for a famous singer. They couldn't anyway because something was keeping them from their music. It wasn't the lack of a manager though, because Laney had been the manager at one point and she could easily take Jackie's place. Rather, it was the lack of one of the band members. More specifically, Kin.

The young keyboardist was currently sitting on Jackie's bed, holding his personal photo of her to his heart. The floor was wet from his tears and there were used tissues all over it. Corey, Laney, and Kon were standing outside Jackie's bedroom door.

Kon walked up to the door and knocked on it gently.

"Kin? You okay bro?" he called. "You've been in there for like, three hours."

"You know we're here for you if you wanna talk." Laney joined in. "So why don't you come out of Jackie's room already?"

"I'm not coming out!" Kin cried from behind the door. "I'm never going to show my face again! My life has no meaning now that…_she's_ gone!"

"Sure it does dude!" Corey persuaded. "You're still in a band with us, right? You're still our best and only keyboard player, right? C'mon! Come to the garage and jam out with us! That'll get your mind off of…'you-know-who'…"

"Leave me alone!" Kin sobbed. "Can't you see I'm mourning over the loss of a beautiful girl? The woman of wonders? The love of my life? The greatest manager in all of Tranquil Town? No! The world?! Maybe you guys can live without Jackie, but I can't! She means everything to me!"

"You'll get over her Kin!" Laney insisted.

"There'll be other Jackies!" Corey agreed.

"Yeah, and hopefully the next one won't ditch you for someone more popular and better-looking than you!" Kon added.

"WAAAAAAAH!" Kin bawled.

Corey and Laney both gave Kon an angry glare.

"Whoops. I just made things worse, didn't I?"

"Yes!" Laney shouted. "Kin, he didn't mean it!"

"No! He's right!" Kin sniffled. "I don't know why I ever got the idea that Jackie liked me! I always thought the best way to earn a woman's love was to treat her with kindness and respect! But even after all of the nice things I've done for Jackie, she'd still rather have a rude, snobby rich guy as her boyfriend than me! And you know why? Because even though Hank is a narcissistic jerk, he's also a widely-known, extremely popular, and unbelievably handsome superstar! And look at me! l'm just a drippy, ugly, disgusting, poorly-dressed, forever-lonely NERD!"

The other band members listened as their friend continued to cry.

"Well, this is a disaster." Corey stated. "At this rate, Kin is never going to forget about Jackie!"

"Can you blame him? He really misses her!" Laney sighed. "And so do I…"

"Me too…" Kon moped. "I miss the way she would scratch my tummy like a great big dog."

"And I miss the way she would actually think of me as a girl."

"What?!" Corey was mesmerized. "How could you guys miss her? You saw how she acted a few hours ago! It was like we didn't exist!"

"It wasn't her fault Core. Sometimes love makes you act thoughtless." Laney blushed. "I would know. I'm sure she hasn't really forgotten us. We just need to convince her to come home where she belongs."

"I don't know…" Corey crossed his arms. "I'm starting to think we don't need a manger…"

"Core, really think about this one. Jackie isn't just our manager, she's our friend. She's the one who's always been there for us. She's the one who made our name known in this place. And she's the one who keeps the band together. Maybe she doesn't need us right now, but we need her! So I say let's find Hank Sonata and make him give Jackie back!"

Once the red-haired bassist was finished with her speech, Corey didn't know what to say. In fact, his face was completely blank.

"…Oh, and if we don't, then Kin won't come out of Jackie's room and Grojband will never play music again."

"Right…" Corey nodded. "Let's go!"

**HANK SONATA'S GONNA PAY!**

After a very long walk, Corey, Laney, and Kon finally reached Hank Sonata's fall mansion.

"Well, this is it!" Corey announced. "See guys? I told you finding this place would be easy!"

Laney and Kon panted in reply and then they all ran up to a window of the mansion. They were shocked to see Jackie giving Hank a foot massage in the living room.

"Whoa! Hank's got Jackie wrapped around his incredibly rich and famous finger!" Kon observed.

"I knew that guy was bad news!" Corey exclaimed.

"Yeah! Nobody treats my gal pal like that!" Laney scowled. "I'm gonna give that ponytailed brute a piece of my mind!"

Jackie rubbed between Hank's toes.

"Um, Mr. Sonata?"

"What is it now?" Hank asked annoyed.

"Well, as much fun as it is to massage your two beautiful feet, I was hoping we could rehearse a little before dinner."

"Rehearse? For what?"

"You know, for that concert on Tuesday you were talking about."

Hank chuckled. "Why on earth would I do that?"

"Well, to make sure you sound perfect! Uh, I mean, more perfect! Heh, heh!"

"You're laughing. That must have been a joke, right?"

"Uh…"

"Listen Miss Matthews, maybe your old friends took the time to rehearse their 'music', but I am far too busy to partake in such nonsense! I can sing my numbers perfectly without any help from my manager, thank you very much!"

"Oh. Okay. That's understandable. I'm really looking forward to hearing you sing live on stage this week! I'm sure you'll be great!"

"You? Hearing me sing live on stage?" Hank laughed. "Now that has to be a joke!"

"Huh?"

"You won't be going to any of my concerts! Not this week or ever! I can't have you spoiling my moment of glory, now can I? Besides, you'll be far too busy with your chores."

"But…Grojband always lets me come to their concerts…" Jackie mumbled.

"I'm not them! Now massage my right foot again! And this time scrub softer!"

"Yes sir." Jackie looked down sadly.

**DING DONG!**

"Oh great, it must be the paparazzi again." Hank moaned. "Boys, answer the door!"

The bodyguards did so and saw Grojband (minus one) standing outside.

"Can we help you?" the first bodyguard asked.

"Yes. We're here to see Mr. Sonata!" Laney demanded.

"Do you have an appointment?" the second guard questioned.

"No. But you two are going to need a doctor's appointment!" Laney cracked her knuckles and took out both of the guards.

Corey and Kon exchanged nervous glances, reminding themselves not to get on Laney's nerves anytime soon. Then the three of them entered the living room to meet Hank.

"Hello Hanky…" Corey greeted with a glare in his eye.

"Oh great." Hank complained. "You kids again."

"Corey? Laney? Kon?" Jackie stood up. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to take you home Jacks!" Corey clarified.

"Yeah, and we're also here to teach a certain someone a little lesson!" Laney jumped onto Hank's stomach. "Listen here buster! If think you can boss my friend, Jackie, around like that, you're sadly mistaken!"

"Gentlemen! Get this little man off me!"

"Little man?! That's it!" Laney raised her fist.

"Laney stop!" Jackie pushed her former bassist away. "Look you guys, if you came to get me back, you may as well forget about it!"

"What?!" Grojband gasped.

"I like it here. I like the mansion, I like the new lifestyle, but most of all, I like being close to my favorite celebrity…" Jackie giggled as she watched Hank pick at his teeth.

"But we miss you!" Kon begged.

"Yeah! We can't practice our music without you!" Corey pleaded.

"Plus, we don't want you working for somebody who's nothing but a nasty, self-centered creep!" Laney pointed her finger at Hank.

"How could you guys say that?" Jackie defended her boss. "Mr. Sonata is nice! If he wasn't, he wouldn't have chosen me to be his manager!"

"Jacks, he's using you!" Corey said. "I mean, you're massaging his feet for crying out loud!"

"You guys are just jealous that-" Jackie paused when she realized Grojband was a member short. "Hey, wait a second…where's Kin?"

"He's back at home." Kon told her. "He's been miserable ever since you left. So miserable that he won't even practice with us anymore. All he does is sit alone in your room and cry."

Jackie winced at the thought of her favorite keyboardist being so sorrowful.

"Oh, boo, hoo, hoo!" Hank pretended to be sympathetic. "Who cares? Kids like him shouldn't bother to show their faces anyway. Now come along Miss Matthews. You still have loads of chores to do."

Hank started to leave but Jackie didn't follow him. He turned around.

"Ahem! I said come along Miss Matthews!"

Jackie looked over at Grojband and saw the disappointment in their eyes. Then she looked at Hank, who had his arms folded in a disapproving way. She looked at Grojband again. Then at Hank. Then at Grojband. Then at Hank.

"Enough!" Hank yelled. "Stop contemplating and get back to work!"

Finally, Jackie made a decision. She turned around, looked Hank right in the eye and said:

"No."

Grojband gasped.

"What did you say?" Hank inquired.

"I said no!" Jackie repeated. "I'm not going to let you boss me around anymore! The whole reason I took this job was because I looked up to you! I respected you! And I maybe, sorta, had a crush on you. But not anymore! My friends were right about you! You're just a nasty, self-centered creep who takes advantage of his managers and makes them into his own personal slaves!"

"So what if I am?" Hank scoffed. "I'm still better than these washed-up wannabes!"

"But you're not! You may have more fans, money, and popularity than Grojband, but that doesn't matter to me! Because these guys are my best friends and even if they never become a great sensation, I'll still love them the same!"

Kon wiped a tear from his eye.

"So what are you saying?" Hank glared.

"I quit!" Jackie declared before walking away. Grojband smiled and followed her.

"Quit?! You can't quit! Get back here right now!" Hank commanded. "Those dishes aren't going to wash themselves you know! You don't know who you're dealing with! Guards! Get them!"

But the two bodyguards were still unconscious after what Laney did to them and couldn't do anything.

"Guys? I'm really sorry for ditching you." Jackie apologized once they were outside. "I guess you could say my love for Hank was making me act pretty-"

"Thoughtless?" Laney guessed. "Believe me girlfriend. I know."

The two of them did their special handshake.

"Good to have you back Jacks!" Corey gave the brown-haired teen a pat on the back.

"Yeah! Now we're one big happy family again!" Kon squeezed Jackie into a hug.

"We sure are!" Jackie giggled and scratched Kon's tummy. "Well…almost…"

When the four reunited friends returned home, they immediately went upstairs to Jackie's bedroom. Corey leaned his ear against the door.

"Huh. I don't hear anything. Hey! Maybe Kin is finally getting over losing you!"

"Guess we'd better find out, huh?" Jackie turned the knob.

"I wouldn't open that door if I were you Jacks." Kon warned her.

"Why not Kon?"

**SPLASH!**

As soon as the door was open, an ocean of tears flowed out and got Jackie and the others all wet. Kin was still on the bed, crying hard.

"Well, so much for your theory." Laney squeezed some water out of her hair.

"Hey Kin…" Corey sang.

"I thought I told you guys to go away!" Kin responded, sniffling.

"But we brought you something to cheer you up…"

"Whatever it is, take it away! I don't want it! The only thing that would make me happy again is seeing Jackie's beautiful, smiling…" Kin turned around and gasped.

"Hi Kin." Jackie waved.

"Jackie! You're back!" Kin grinned for a split second, but then frowned and faced the other way. "I mean, hello Jackie. What are you doing here?"

"This is my room, silly!" Jackie sat down next to the black-haired boy.

"Oh, is it? I thought you lived with Hank Sonata now?"

"Well, I don't. At least, not anymore."

"Why not? After all, you said that you really, really, REALLY wanted to be his manager. And it was pretty obvious that you were head over heels in love with him."

"I was wrong Kin. The truth is, Hank Sonata is an old beast and I never should have agreed to become his manager. While I was living with him, he made me dust his hallways and massage his feet! Plus, he wouldn't let me go to any of his concerts!"

"What?! That horrid fiend!"

"I know. That's why I decided to quit working for him and come back home where I belong."

Kin wiped his tears away. "Really?"

"Yeah. And I'm glad I did. Because now I realize that instead of managing a slave-driving monster, I should be managing people who respect me and like me for who I am. People who always listen to what I have to say. People who love playing music just to have fun, rather than to earn money. Hm, now where do you think I could find guys like that?" Jackie teased.

Kin giggled. "Well there is this band that plays in a garage. I'm sure they'd love to hire you. I know I would."

Jackie giggled too and then the two of them hugged.

"Oh Jackie, I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Kin."

And then, she gave him a small kiss on his left cheek. Kin's eyes went wide and he smiled big.

"So, practice tomorrow morning? The usual time?" Jackie asked.

Kin nodded and held his cheek.

"Cool. See you then." the 14-year old poked Kin's nose and exited.

As soon as Jackie was gone, Kin fainted and fell onto the floor. Corey, Laney, and Kon looked down and saw him rubbing his cheek.

"I'll never wash this cheek again…" he sighed.

Corey shrugged. "Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**36 original scenarios left! 29 slots available!**

**And before you all go commenting about it in your reviews, let me just say that I have nothing against Frank Sinatra. In fact, I love his music and I'm certain he was an incredibly nice person. Therefore, the character in this chapter is not supposed to represent him. In fact, the only two things of his that I parodied were his name and his song titles. Nothing else. **

**Sorry, I'm just trying to avoid getting flamed. Now that I got that out of the way, have another one of my top 10 Grojband Dethroning Moments.**

**#3: In case it wasn't completely obvious by how much attention I give him, Kin is my all-time favorite character in Grojband. He's cute, he's funny, and I love almost everything about him. I love his nerdy voice, I love his obsession with science, and I love those adorable glasses he wears. I mean, why else would I make him fall in love with the character who's supposed to be me? But even if Kin is likeable in almost every way, there is one episode where he acts very unlikeable. I'm talking about the episode, "Hologroj". During the park scene, Grojband discovers that their holograms (which mind you are Kin's inventions) have escaped the garage and are wreaking havoc on the city. Feeling heroic, Kon decides that he is going to 'round them up'. But as he soon learns, he cannot touch the holograms. They can only touch him and the poor drummer is beaten senselessly by his brother's own creations. So what do his loyal friends do? Absolutely nothing. They just sit back and watch as the holograms stab a holographic knife into his back. And although all three of the band members disappointed me in this scene, the one with the absolute worst reaction was Kin. For while Corey and Laney sat still with blank and careless faces, Kin smiled and ate from a bag of popcorn, implying that he was actually enjoying his twin brother's pain. Listen Kin, you may be my favorite character and all, but you should know better than to behave that way. Those holograms were your responsibility and if they wanted to, they could have murdered your only brother and it would have been all your fault. So next time you see him getting beaten up by one of your inventions, you'd better help him. Otherwise, I'll make sure Jackie never falls in love with you (jk lol). And yes, I know that in the chapter based on "Hologroj" I had Jackie behave the same way, but honestly I'm starting to regret that decision. I realize now that I should have made her the only one who helped Kon out so she could have set an example for the others. Oh well.**

**The next chapter is going to be the Thanksgiving chapter. I can't promise that it will be out on Thanksgiving Day but definitely be on the lookout! See you later!**


	61. Cheaper By the Cousin

**Happy (very) late Thanksgiving everybody! Hope you all aren't too mad at me for posting this chapter a week after Thanksgiving. Turns out it was a lot harder to write than I thought and it took me days just to put it all together. Also, it's really long. Like really, really, REALLY long. Longer than Chapter 41 even. I honestly don't know if you guys consider that a good thing or a bad thing but it's definitely something to keep in mind as you're reading this. This chapter's scenario is based on a suggestion given to me by the Mad Hatter, so here it is:**

**"Jackie and the gang are having dinner with some rich family members. Jackie's cousins start making snide comments about Laneys gender, which she just stays quiet about because she doesn't want to embarrass Jackie. This goes on for awhile until Kin makes a snide comment himself about the cousins. Jackie gets really mad at Kin, Laney and Kin get really mad at Jackie, and the rest of the chapter is Jackie trying to get her friends back."**

**Now don't get me wrong, I love this idea a lot and I couldn't wait to write the story for it, but I decided to make it only a part of the main storyline. Meaning, this chapter doesn't just focus on Laney getting teased by Jackie's cousins. I added a lot of my own aspects to the story to make it flow better. Also, I didn't really want to make Kin angry with Jackie because I can't imagine him ever getting mad at her, so instead I made Jackie get mad at him and the rest of the band. You'll see how it goes.**

**But before we begin, there's something I need to address. A little while ago, a reader of this story, UltimateGrojfan sent me a PM asking me to add his own character to this story. I told him no because writing for somebody else's character is rather difficult for me, especially if I don't know much about them. He responded by saying he could give me information on his character in order to help me out. Well, I was going to reply to him but he is having trouble logging into his account so I can't message him back. So instead, I'm going to leave my reply here and hope that he reads it:**

**Dear Zach (aka UltimateGrojfan),**

**First of all, I want to thank you very much for taking the time to read my work. It means a lot to me and I hope you continue reading it in the future. Secondly, thank you for offering to send me info on your character. However, in regards to putting him in the story, my answer is still no because 1. A description of your character is not going to help me with writing his dialogue and actions and 2. If I put your character in the story, then everyone else will want their characters in the story too. Which means I'll have to spend even more time struggling with dialogue and actions. And even if I do eventually come up with things for them to say and do, people will most likely complain and say I didn't get their characters at all. And I just don't think I can handle all that stress. I'm very sorry but "Meeting Grojband" will not be accepting scenarios with OCs, unless of course the OCs themselves don't have names and/or specific personality traits (i.e. if you write "a mean boy/girl" in your scenarios, most likely I will use them). Characters like these are easier to write about because I can do whatever I want with them and formulate their personalities more freely. Also, I may or may not accept situations with characters that are not OCs (characters from movies, TV shows, etc.). It depends on if I know them well or not. Again, I am very sorry, but I cannot put your character into my story. However, you are always welcome to write your own little spin-off of "Meeting Grojband" and put your character in it. Heck, you can put Jackie in it if you wanted to (as long as you credit me). I hope you have a wonderful holiday, and as always, keep reading!**

**Yeah, I know. I'm wasting good story space again. I won't keep you guys from Chapter 61 any longer. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 61**

**Cheaper By the Cousin**

It was a lovely Thanksgiving Day. The leaves were falling off the trees, the wind was blowing cool, gentle breezes, and despite the fact that it was fall, the sun was shining brightly. Everybody in Tranquil Town was taking part in this festive celebration. Whether they were chowing down on turkey legs, watching football, or dancing in a fancy parade, the citizens always had a good time on Thanksgiving. And this year, there wasn't a single person in town who wasn't happy on this holiday. Well, actually, there was one…

"Mom! Dad!" Tracy whined. "Why do we have to go to our dumb cousins' house for Thanksgiving?! More importantly, why do I have to go? Why can't I stay home this year? Rick Salary invited me over to his house to watch the football game!"

Jackie and her family were riding out of the neighborhood in their car.

"Now Tracy sweetheart, you should know that spending time with your family is more important than getting the most popular boy in school to like you." Jackie's mother said. "Besides, I thought you liked visiting Aunt Jen and Uncle Bobby?"

"Uncle Bobby's not my real uncle!" Tracy griped. "Just because Aunt Jen got divorced and married him doesn't mean he's family!"

"Well you had better treat him like family young lady! Jackie's father threatened. "We don't want a repeat of what happened last year!"

"If you ask me, Uncle Bobby doesn't even deserve to have me as a niece! He's just a gross, smelly old farmer! And speaking of gross, why did we have to bring Jackie's stupid band with us to dinner?"

Grojband was cramped up in the back of the car.

"Because they're family too, dear." Mrs. Matthews told her oldest daughter.

"I mean, they have to be since they practically live in our garage." Mr. Matthews pointed out.

"Ugh…" Tracy moaned. "Worst day ever…Rick Salary is probably watching the game alone right now and I can't do a thing about it because I have to go visit my stupid relatives with my sister and her dorky friends!"

Jackie turned around in her seat.

"You guys okay back there?"

"We're good Jacks." Corey mumbled.

"We've been better, but we're good." Laney added.

"Mrs. Matthews? Are we there yet?" Corey asked.

"Corey, we just got onto the highway, you silly goose! We won't be there for at least an hour!" Mrs. Matthews teased before whispering to her husband. "Aren't they just the cutest things, dear?"

"I don't know hon. I don't like the way that kid with the glasses looks at Jackie. It worries me."

Kin poked his head out from behind Jackie's seat and stared at her lovingly.

"Hey!" Mr. Matthews yelled. "Stay in your seat, keyboard player!"

Kin gulped and lowered his head. "Yes sir…"

"Well, looks like we're all gonna be stuck in this big, hot, cramped car for a while." Laney noted. "At least things can't get any worse."

Corey sniffed. "Hey, what's that smell?"

"Oh…" Kon blushed. "That might have been the cheese omelette I had for breakfast…"

"Gross!" Laney gagged.

"Kon!" Kin coughed.

"Can somebody open a window please?" Corey requested, holding his nose.

**CHEESE OMELETTE TRANSITION!**

About an hour later, the Matthews' car pulled up to a beautiful-looking mansion. Jackie, Tracy, and Grojband were all sound asleep.

"Aww…look at that!" Mrs. Matthews cooed. "They're all so adorable when they're sleeping!"

"Yes they are dear." Mr. Matthews nodded. "Would you like me to-"

"Oh, no, no, no! I'll take care of it!" Mrs. Matthews turned her head the other way and then she shouted:

"Kids! Wake up! We're here!"

"AAAA!" all six teens jolted awake. Grojband was so startled that they all tumbled out of the trunk and landed on a solid gold pavement.

"Ooh…pretty…" Kon commented.

Laney got up and looked at the huge mansion in front of her.

"Wow, a diamond mansion and a golden pathway. These guys must be living the dream."

Jackie met up with them. "Yeah, my aunt comes from a long line of rich folks. She inherited all the jewels from her grandmother and her butlers used them to build her her own mansion."

"So, are all of her diamonds part of the mansion?" Kin scratched his head.

"No silly! Only a quarter of them! She keeps the rest in a safe place."

"Wow, I can't wait to meet your aunt, Jacks." Corey pulled out his guitar. "Especially if she loves to rock out!"

The front man was about to play a really loud chord, but then Jackie took his guitar away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I think we need to go over how to behave around my family one more time, don't you?"

"Aw c'mon Jacks! You already explained it three times before we left the house!" Corey chuckled. "We don't really need to tune you out again!"

Jackie glared. "Core, this is serious. My aunt is very sophisticated and it's important that you guys make a good impression on her. Need I remind you that this is your all's last chance to get on my family's good side. My parents said that if any of you do anything to wreck this dinner, you'll have to move out of our garage and I'll never see you again! So I want all of you to pay attention! Is that clear?"

Grojband was silent for a brief moment. Then Laney cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at the boys.

"Well, I'll listen Jackie. I wanna make sure your dinner goes perfectly!"

"Thank you Laney." Jackie grinned. "But none of this really applies to you. I already know you'll be well-behaved."

Kin raised his hand. "What about me Jackie? I can be well-behaved too!"

Jackie sighed. "I'm sure of that Kin. As long as you don't drink any soda at dinner."

"No soda?!" Kin gasped. "You would deny me the sweetest and tastiest of all beverages?"

"I'm sorry Kin, but you know how Kon gets whenever you drink soda. We can't risk him having one of his 'outbursts' at the table."

Kin sighed. "Okay, I guess you have a point…"

"Of course, the absence of soda alone isn't going to stop that stomach of yours Kon." Jackie poked Kon in the tummy. "So if at anytime you feel the slightest bit gassy, try to hold it in, okay? Also, you may wanna go easy on the cheese platter."

Kon giggled.

"As for you Corey, my aunts and cousins aren't big fans of loud music. Or rock and roll. So I'm going to have to ask you to give the guitar solos a rest."

"What?! Jacks, you've gotta be kidding me! I can't live without my music! I need my guitar!"

"Oh Core, I'm sure you can go one whole day without playing a note, can't you?"

"No! That's the whole point! I'm a musician! If I don't play a song or a chord or anything, I'll go totally bonkers!"

"Well, you're just gonna have to control yourself Core. It's either go crazy or never set foot in my garage again!"

"Jackie!" Mrs. Matthews called. "Where are you?"

"Coming Mom!" Jackie answered and she and the others walked down the gold pathway to catch up. Standing outside the mansion was a tall woman with red, bouffant hair and a sparkling blue dress. She had on a pearl necklace and two pearl bracelets to match.

"Okay guys, you're about to meet my Aunt Jen for the first time." Jackie whispered. "So stand up straight and remember to be polite."

"No prob Jacks!" Corey announced. "Grojband is all about mannerisms!"

"So glad all of you could join us for dinner." Aunt Jen said eloquently. "Robert and I were very pleased when you accepted our invitation. We haven't seen you or the children for quite some time now and we're simply overjoyed to have you all here."

"Hello Aunt Jen." Jackie greeted with a smile. "Thanks so much for letting us have Thanksgiving dinner at your house. And thanks for letting my friends come too."

Aunt Jen took notice of Grojband. "Oh yes. These must be the family's new…additions. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Jennifer Matthews Winston the third. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

Corey zipped up to Aunt Jen and shook her hand vigorously.

"Hey, hey! Same here Jenny! Thanks a ton for inviting us! This mansion of yours is wicked! Love your outfit too! It goes with your eyes. And that really ugly mole on your cheek. But you might wanna see a barber about that hair. This isn't the 18th century, after all!"

Jackie facepalmed and shook her head.

"The name's Corey Riffin! And this is my band!" Corey gestured to the other three band members.

"Oh yes. Jacquelynn told me all about you four."

"Jacquelynn?" Corey snickered and looked at Jackie. "Your real name is Jacquelynn?"

Sure enough, Kon was snickering as well.

"Jacquelynn! Hee, hee! That's the funniest name I've ever heard!"

Jackie turned red with embarrassment.

"Hey! Knock it off you guys!" Kin scolded. "It's not nice to make fun of somebody's real name! Besides, I think it's beautiful."

"Aw, thanks Kin." Jackie smiled and then frowned. "Just don't ever call me it, okay?"

Then the mansion door opened and a taller man with black hair and overalls stepped outside. He was followed by three children, two of whom looked like they were a bit older than Jackie.

"Honey? I just wanted to let you know that-" he looked over at the Matthews family. "Oh! Howdy there folks! Didn't see ya there!"

"Oh yes. And this is my husband." Aunt Jen continued. "Robert William Winston um…the first."

"Aw, shucks! You can call me Uncle Bobby!" Uncle Bobby chuckled. "Good to see ya'll again!"

"You too Uncle Bobby." Jackie replied.

"Jackie, you've grown so much since the last time I've seen ya!"

"Um, thank you Uncle Bobby, but it's only been one year."

Uncle Bobby glanced at Tracy, who was texting somebody on her phone.

"Ah, and I can see Tracy is still her ol beautiful self! How ya doing pumpkin?"

"Ahem! Tracy!" Mrs. Matthews whispered. "Uncle Bobby asked you a question."

"He's not even my real uncle, Mom!" Tracy scoffed.

"Tracy…" Mr. Matthews crossed his arms.

"Ugh, fine. It's nice to see you or whatevs…"

Bobby looked over at Grojband last.

"And I'm guessing these youngins are those friends you were talking about Jackie! Happy to meet ya'll!" Bobby brought over one of the children, a short black-haired boy in red overalls. "This here's my son, Robert Junior! Say hi now Robby!"

"Uh, hi?" Robby muttered shyly.

Aunt Jen summoned the remaining two children: a boy with flat, brown hair wearing a sailor suit and a girl with brown hair tied up in a ponytail wearing a white dress with a blue sash.

"And these are the twins. Benjamin Bradley Matthews the third and Gwenyth Gabriella Matthews the fifth."

Both children stuck their noses up in the air and said:

"How do you do?"

"Well, that's everyone. And now that we've all been properly introduced, let us all go inside and have dinner, shall we?"

"Oh, uh, that's what I was going to talk to you about dear…" Uncle Bobby scratched the back of his neck. "See the thing is uh…the turkey caught on fire."

"What?!"

Everybody ran into the house and saw a trail of smoke leading straight into the kitchen. They all coughed.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?!" Jen shouted at Bobby.

"Sorry! It slipped my mind!"

"Don't worry!" Mrs. Matthews reassured her husband's sister-in-law. "This has happened to us plenty of times! We know how to fix this mess! Tracy? Could you get a fire extinguisher for us?"

"Ugh! Do I have to?" Tracy complained.

"Tracy! Now!" Mr. Matthews pointed in the opposite direction.

Tracy groaned and did as she was told.

"Jackie? Do you think you could help us as well?" Mrs. Matthews requested.

"Of course Mom! I got this!" Jackie gave her mother a thumbs-up.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Kin jumped up and down. "What about us Jackie? We can help too!"

"Thanks Kin, but I think we have everything under control."

"What?! But what are we supposed to do?" Corey asked.

"Hm…I know! Why don't you guys stay here and bond with Ben, Gwen, and Robby?" Jackie gestured towards her cousins. "That way you all can get to know each other better! I'm sure you'll be the best of friends by the time I get back! See ya!"

When the manager exited, Gwen pushed Robby to the ground and looked over at Ben.

"Ugh, I can't believe they left us with them…they've been here for ten whole minutes and already I'm revolted."

"I agree wholeheartedly." Ben responded. "Let's leave."

Gwen nodded and she and her brother started to walk away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Corey ran after them. "Jackie said we had to bond with you guys, remember?"

"Yes. Well, here's the thing." Ben started. "My sister and I choose not to 'bond' with people of your stature."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Laney was offended.

"It means…" Gwen glanced at Ben and they both nodded as if they were silently agreeing on something.

"We don't like you!" the two stated matter-of-factly before sticking their noses in the air again and leaving.

Tracy, meanwhile, was still in the kitchen 'helping' her family put out the fire. Notice the quotation marks? Yeah, those were meant to go there. The truth is, she was just standing around and texting on her phone while everyone else sprayed the fire extinguisher over the oven.

"Ugh! This is so boring!" Tracy said to herself. "Why are they getting so worked up anyway? It's just a dumb fire! And it's not even that big! I so have better things to do than to extinguish a grody turkey! I wonder if Aunt Jen has wi-fi upstairs."

The dark-haired teenager left the kitchen and made her way to the staircase. She was about to climb up until she spotted Ben and Gwen walking into their mother's office.

"Hm, now what are they up to?" she wondered.

The fraternal twins entered the office and watched their younger step-brother talk with their cousin's band from the window. Mean and wicked thoughts were running through their heads, many of which, they wanted to say out loud. So they both shared their thoughts with each other in their own special and musical way.

_Ben: Oh sister?_

_Gwen: Yes brother?_

_Ben: May I share a thought or two?_

_Gwen: Please do._

_Ben: I'm afraid that those twits _

_With the ghastly outfits _

_Are not like me and you_

_Gwen: That's true_

_Ben: They are simple, they are stupid_

_They are boorish, it's the truth_

_Gwen: Oh yes! They are also brash_

_Filthier than trash_

_And don't forget uncouth_

_Both: They are beastly and ill-mannered_

_Not to mention out-of-sync_

_They are unrefined, a disgrace to mankind_

_And worst of all…they stink!_

_So they won't be joining our family_

_And once they are gone, we'll live happily_

_Oh, how to get rid of a rock band?_

_It's not very easy to do_

_Unless of course, you have a sibling_

_Cause one's always better than two_

_If you have a plan that's perfect_

_Then success will come to you_

_Gwen: And we shall formulate one in time_

_Ben: Ahh…_

_Both: But to do that we will need to come up with more words that rhyme!_

They both began to think. "Hm…"

"Ooh! I've got one!" Ben exclaimed.

"What is it?"

_Ben: It involves the one with the red hair_

_Gwen: You mean the boy in the green dress?_

_Ben: It's a girl. Her outfit is actually quite decent_

_But it soon will be a mess_

_When we cover it with the gravy_

_Just a cup, no more, no less_

_Our mother will see what a brute she is_

_And be very unimpressed_

_Both: And then_

_Those fools_

_Will be forced to regress_

"Hm, that's not a bad plan at all, Ben!" Gwen complimented her brother. "But I think I have an even better one!"

"Tell me Gwen."

_Gwen: It involves the thin boy with black hair_

_Who wears glasses over his face_

_Ben: Go on._

_Gwen: If we take them when he's not looking_

_Then he shall wreck the place_

_Ben: I see._

_Gwen: Because he won't see where he's going,_

_He'll knock over mother's first vase_

_And when she sees the mess he made_

_She'll deem him a disgrace_

_Both: And then_

_They'll all_

_Be gone without a trace_

_Let's sing_

_A chord_

_Gwen: I'm alto_

_Ben: And I'm bass_

_Both: Ohh…_

_How to get rid of a rock band?_

_It's not very easy to do_

_Unless of course, you have a sibling_

_Cause one's always better than two_

_If you have a plan that's perfect_

_Then success will come to you_

_And once we choose how we shall attack…_

_Then that dirty, smelly rock band won't be coming BAAAAAAAACK!_

_No they won't be coming back!_

The twins laughed as their evil song came to an end.

"I do say Gwen, there's nothing like a duet between two villains to get the readers' attention!"

"Couldn't agree more Ben!"

"Same here!"

The siblings turned around and saw Tracy standing in the doorway, slowly clapping her hands.

"That was surprisingly well done! Who knew two people could actually sound good together? I sure didn't!"

"Sound good?" Ben replied.

"If you must know, Ben and I don't sound good. We sound perfect, thank you very much!" Gwen crossed her arms.

"Oh yeah! That's what I meant."

"Wait a minute, if you were here listening to our musical number the whole time, then that must mean you overheard our evil plans!" Ben concluded.

"I hope you're not planning on telling on us!" Gwen threatened. "Because if so, you'd better be prepared for a world of hurt!"

"Me? Tell on you?" Tracy acted surprised. "I wouldn't dream of it! I love your evil plans!"

"You do?" Ben and Gwen responded together.

"Totes! And what's really funny is that I didn't even want to come here in the first place! The truth is I've always hated visiting your house, mostly because of your dorky stepdad. But now that I know how cool you guys are, I can totally live with him! Almost. And between you and me, I hate Mirojband just as much as you do."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've been trying to get them kicked out of this family ever since my dumb sister wished they were alive! And since you two don't like them either, I think we should work together to get rid of them once and for all! What do you say, partners?"

Ben and Gwen thought about it for a minute and then they both said:

"Oh, absolutely!"

All three teens laughed an evil laugh. A long evil laugh. A really long evil laugh. Finally, they all stopped and exchanged awkward glances.

"So…what's the plan again?" Tracy asked.

"Oh! We're going to pour gravy over the red-headed girl's dress!" Ben recapped.

"What are you talking about Ben? We already agreed that we're going to steal the skinny one's glasses!" Gwen protested.

"Don't be silly Gwenyth! We never agreed on that! Anyway, my idea is much better than yours!"

"No, my idea is better, Benjamin!"

"Oh is it now? All right then, give me one good reason why we should use your idea instead of mine!"

"Because I'm older than you!"

"Ugh! By three minutes!"

"That's a lot more than you think, little brother! We're doing my plan!"

"We are not! Tracy, help me out here!"

"Oh, I think both of your plans are the best!" Tracy smiled. "But I've got one that's ten times better! You see, since I've lived with those nerds for almost a whole year now, I've managed to pick up on a few of their weaknesses…here's what we're gonna do."

The black-haired girl pulled her cousins closer and whispered her idea to them.

**EVIL PLAN TRANSITION!**

Uncle Bobby emerged from the kitchen covered in black ashes. He coughed a few times.

"Well, now that we got the turkey situation sorted out, we can finally have dinner!"

"Thank goodness we had a cornish game hen in the fridge …" Aunt Jen muttered under her breath.

Jackie followed her parents out of the kitchen and Grojband ran up to her.

"Oh! There you guys are! Okay, listen up! We're just about ready to have dinner now. This is probably one of the most important meals you've ever had in your lives! You guys have to be on your best behavior, otherwise I'll lose you forever! So I need you to be polite, eat slowly, and above all, remember everything I told you before! Okay?"

"No worries Jacks!" Corey reassured the manager. "We've got this! You won't be losing us anytime soon!"

Tracy was listening in on their conversation.

"We'll see about that…" she snickered. She was holding Corey's guitar in her left hand.

The family walked into the dining room where a huge helping of delicious food was waiting for them on the table. This included stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a huge mountain of mashed potatoes.

"Oh boy! Food!" Kon was about to jump onto the table and dig right in, but Jackie held him back and raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah. Manners. Sorry."

After everybody got a full plate of food, they all looked for a place to sit. Jackie took a seat next to her parents and she made sure all of Grojband sat across from her so she could keep an eye on them. Corey sat near the end of the table and Tracy sat right next to him with a smile on her face. Corey was a little suspicious of this, so he scooted his chair a few inches to the left. Once everyone was in a chair, Aunt Jen cleared her throat.

"All right everyone. Let the dinner commence."

Tracy winked at Ben and Gwen and they nodded back at her. The two of them snuck over to where Kin was sitting and when he wasn't looking, they took his water glass and dumped it out. Kin reached for his glass and took a sip from it. When he found that it was empty, he was surprised and confused.

"Um, Aunt Jen?" he raised his hand. "I don't have a drink."

"Oh dear!" Jen exclaimed. "I could have sworn my butlers filled all of the glasses."

Ben came over carrying a bottle filled with a strange, bubbly liquid.

"Try some of this my good man!" he insisted, pouring the substance into Kin's glass. "It's the tastiest beverage we have in our cellar!"

"Yes!" Gwen agreed. "And we believe that our guests deserve the best!"

"Gee, thanks!" Kin took a big sip. "Mm…hey, that is pretty good! What is it?"

"Oh nothing special really." Ben answered. "Just a bottle of our mother's homemade cream soda."

Kin gasped and dropped his drink glass on the floor, causing it to break. Kon held onto his stomach, for he was starting to get a funny, familiar feeling inside of it.

"Uh-oh…" his cheeks puffed up. Quickly, he covered his mouth in attempt to hold back what was coming.

Ben and Gwen snickered quietly before going back to their own seats next to Laney.

"Hello there friend." Gwen addressed her politely.

"Good day." Ben added.

Laney was weirded out.

"Um, is there any reason you're both sitting next to me?"

"What ever do you mean?" Gwen pretended she didn't know what Laney was talking about.

"I thought you guys chose not to bond with people of my stature?"

"Oh, don't be silly!" Ben chuckled. "Your stature is perfectly up to our standards!"

"Indeed." Gwen nodded. "Plus, we consider you to be quite different from the rest of those scoundrels."

"Really?"

"Absolutely!" Ben concurred. "After what my sister and I have seen from you today, we believe that you are a polite, fascinating and charming young man!"

"…What?!" Laney was starting to get angry.

"Although, you have to admit, it is a bit odd for a handsome boy like yourself to be wearing a dress, now isn't it?" Gwen joked.

"Handsome?!" Laney stood up. "Why you…"

"Laney!" Jackie whispered. "What are you doing?"

"They're making fun of me Jacks! They're calling me…a you-know-what! And you know I hate it when people call me that!"

"I get that Laney, and I understand that other people getting your gender confused on purpose is infuriating, but can you please just hold all that anger in until dinner is over? If you lose your temper in front of Aunt Jen, she'll never let you be a part of this family!"

Laney groaned and sat back down. "Fine…"

"That's right! Better sit up straight, old chap!" Ben teased. "We want to make sure Mother likes you so she'll accept you into the family!"

"Of course, we already accept you!" Gwen claimed. "You're like the little brother we've never had!"

"Hey! What about me?"

"Zip it Robby!" Gwen ordered

Tracy looked over at Corey, who was quietly eating his mashed potatoes.

"Ugh, this dinner is so lame, right?" she said.

"Huh?" Corey turned his head toward Tracy.

"It just feels so…quiet! And I hate quiet! Don't you?"

Corey swallowed. "Well, uh…I guess so…"

"I mean, you'd think they'd at least play some music for us or do something to make this boring meal feel more…entertaining…"

"Yeah. Too bad." Corey went back to eating.

"You know, I was thinking, since you're part of a rock band and everything, maybe you could liven this dinner up with…your music?"

Corey rolled his eyes and smirked. "Nice try. But I know what you're up to. You're trying to get me to play my guitar so we'll get kicked out of the family. But it's not gonna work because my guitar's still in the trunk of our car!"

"Oh, you mean…this guitar?!" Tracy revealed Corey's guitar.

"Hey! How'd you get that?"

"Doesn't matter. Now that it's here, you can play it as much as you want. And you can play it as loud as you want too."

Corey watched as Tracy moved the guitar back and forth in front of his face. He felt as if he was being hypnotized.

"I can?"

"Sure! And since I'm in such a good mood today, I'll let you have it."

"Ooh…" Corey had spirals in his eyes.

"Hey, listen! I can hear it calling your name! It's saying: 'Play me Beanie Boy. Play me to your heart's content or whatever. You know you want to…'"

"Oh yes…I do…" Corey reached his hand out to grab the guitar but then he stopped himself. "No! Even if I really do wanna play a riff right now, I can't! Jackie's depending on me!"

"Oh. Okay." Tracy placed the guitar in front of Corey. "I'll just put this here then. You know, to remind you of all the good times you've had with it and junk."

Corey looked down at his favorite and only instrument and began to sweat nervously. He kept mentally telling himself to resist the temptation to play it, but it wasn't easy. In fact, it wasn't long before he actually started hearing his guitar begging for him to pick it up and play a song.

But he wasn't the only band member struggling with something. Kon was still trying desperately to keep the gas in his stomach from coming out.

"Kon, please! Hold it in!" Kin begged. "We're so close to making Jackie's aunt like us! We could finally become somewhat official members of her family! Do not ruin this for me! I mean, us!"

"I don't know Kin." Kon retched. "I'm not sure I can hold it for much longer."

"You have to! If you don't, then Jackie's parents will never respect me! Which means Jackie and I will never start dating, which means we'll never get married, which means we'll never live in the same house together, which means we'll never ever have kids that look almost exactly like us!" he grabbed his brother and shook him. "Kon, for the sake of our babies, please control your gassy stomach!"

"Ugh, I'm not sure what's making me sicker. You shaking me or the idea of you having kids with Jackie…" Kon held his stomach.

"I must say, my dear fellow," Ben told Laney. "I adore that hair of yours! It's simply marvelous!"

"Which hair, brother?" Gwen asked. "The one on his head or the one on his chin?"

They both snickered and Laney gritted her teeth.

"Will you guys please knock it off?"

"Oh come now, can't you take a joke, laddie?" Ben laughed.

Corey, meanwhile, was attempting to take his mind off of his guitar by focusing on the food on his plate. He swallowed another mouthful of mashed potatoes before giving the cherry red instrument another glance.

"Oh no!" Corey shook his head. "You can't fool me that easily! I'm too smart for you! You'll have to do better than that if you wanna break the Riff man!"

He took another bite of food before glancing at the guitar again.

"Nope…your little plan's not working…" sweat drops fell from his forehead. "You may as well face it. I'm not gonna play you. No matter how quiet…and boring…and unentertaining this dinner is…you think I can't live without you? Well…you're wrong! Because I have will power…"

The lead singer turned around and shut his eyes. But after a few seconds of complete silence passed, he let out a frustrated groan.

"Okay! You win! I don't have will power! I know this dinner is really important, but I don't care!" he picked up his guitar. "I have to play you!"

"Corey!" Jackie cried.

But it was too late for Corey had already slid his pic across his guitar strings, causing it to play a very loud chord. Jackie and her family covered their ears as Corey hugged his precious instrument.

"Oh, it feels so good! I love it! I love it so much! I promise I'll never abandon you again!" he kept playing.

"Stop that horrendous noise this instant!" Aunt Jen demanded.

"Jackie, we thought you said you had them under control!" Mr. Matthews lectured.

"I-I-I did! I-"

"Seriously guys! Just leave me alone!" Laney angrily requested Ben and Gwen.

"Oh dear! Have me and my sister offended you?"

"We're terribly sorry! We were just playing around! It's how we treat all newcomers to the family! Would you please forgive us…sir?"

Laney gasped and clenched her fists. A scowl formed upon her face and she turned deep red. Out of all the boyish nicknames in the world, 'sir' was the one she hated the most.

"Laney, no!" Jackie panicked.

"That's it!" Laney stood up from her seat and tackled Ben and Gwen to the ground.

"Oh my word!" Aunt Jen hollered.

"Ow! What are you doing?" Ben bellowed.

"We were just joking!" Gwen clamored.

"Oh, you were joking, were ya? Okay! Then we'll just call what I'm about to do to your faces a joke too!"

"Young man, release my children at once!" Aunt Jen said.

"Young man? Young man?!" Laney screamed. "Do I look like a young man to you?! I swear, all of you are such BLIND IDIOTS!"

Mr. and Mrs. Matthews gave Jackie a disappointed look and she covered her face.

"Laney, calm down!" Kin put his hands on his friend's shoulders. "You shouldn't worry about what others think of you! Especially not Ben and Gwen! I mean, they're just a couple of spoiled, stuck-up, pompous, teenaged brats!"

"Mummy, that boy said mean things about us." Ben whimpered.

"He's terrible! Awful!" Gwen pretended to cry.

"How dare you talk about my sweet, innocent, little darlings that way!" Aunt Jen pointed her finger at Kin.

"Huh? No! No, no, no! See when I said spoiled, I really meant…uh…"

"Hey everybody! What's gotten into the chubby kid?" Uncle Bobby referred to Kon.

"Kon? Are you okay?" Jackie asked concerned.

Kon didn't answer because his cheeks were extremely puffed up. His face was turning a deep red color and he started to sweat.

"Kon?" Jackie repeated.

"What's going on?" Robby went.

"Take cover!" Kin screamed. "He's gonna blow!"

But before anybody had the chance to duck, Kon let out his biggest belch ever. It was so huge that it blew away the tablecloth, causing all of the food to splatter on the walls. Everybody held onto their chairs to keep themselves from getting blown away. Aunt Jen's hair flew off of her head and she screamed. Finally, the table fell over and nearly crushed Jackie and her parents. When it was all over, everyone came out of their hiding places and looked over at Kon. Kon gave a nervous smile and pointed at Kin.

"Um…he did it."

Aunt Jen was furious.

"These children are barbarians! They're not suitable for this family at all! I want them removed from my presence immediately!"

She snapped her fingers and the next thing Grojband knew, they were thrown out of the mansion by a group of butlers.

"And don't come back! Hmph!" Aunt Jen called before stepping back into the house.

"Yes! Don't come back!" Ben and Gwen copied their mother and burst into a fit of laughter.

Jackie was feeling very dejected. She turned to her parents.

"Mom! Dad! You can't let them do this! They didn't mean to wreck the dinner! Honest!"

"It's far too late for that now dear." Mrs. Matthews said. "We gave them another chance and as the kids say, they blew it! So I'm afraid they won't be staying in our garage any longer!"

Grojband was horror-struck.

"But-but-" Jackie stammered.

"And as for you young lady," Mr. Matthews continued. "I think this little incident proves that you can't be trusted to keep control of your own band. So for the rest of dinner, you'll be sitting at the children's table."

"What?! But I graduated from that last year!"

"Our decision is final." Mrs. Matthews confirmed. "We'll call a taxi to give your friends a ride."

"But, where will they go?"

"Anywhere. As long as it's away from us." Mr. Matthews concluded before going back inside with his wife. Uncle Bobby and Robby did the same.

Tears fell off of Jackie's cheek.

"Well you guys have really done it this time." she sniffled. "Now my parents think I'm immature too."

"But Jackie-" Kin started to say.

"One thing! I asked you guys to do one thing for me! I told you about a million zillion times how important this dinner was! Not just to me, but to all of us! And now, we can't see each other anymore!"

"Jacks-" Laney began.

"No! Don't talk to me! It's too late to say you're sorry now! Just go on and get out of here!" Jackie went inside the mansion. "I hope all of you are happy wherever you end up…"

She walked away, which prompted Kin to run after her.

"Jackie! Wait!"

But just as he reached the door, Tracy, Ben, and Gwen slammed it in his face, and he smacked right into it.

"No, no, no!" Kin pounded his fists on the door. "Jackie! Come back! Oh no! This is terrible!"

"Terrible? Terrible?! We've just been kicked out of our manager's home, disappointed her family, and now we have no place to live! This is way worse than terrible! And we wouldn't be out here if it wasn't for you!"

"Me?!" Kin was shocked.

"Yeah, if you hadn't drank that soda, Kon wouldn't have belched and ruined everything!"

"Hey! I didn't ask for these twin abilities! Besides, I specifically told Kon to hold it in until dinner was over! It's all his fault!"

"Dude, I couldn't help it! You can only hold those kinds of things in for so long!" Kon defended himself. "Anyway, Laney's the one who lost her temper and attacked Jackie's cousins."

"Well, they were asking for it! You guys know I hate being called…that name…"

"Guys, forget about whose fault it was!" Corey told them. "We've got bigger problems. Like where we're going to live now."

Laney and the twins looked down in shame and sorrow. Then they all sat down on the mansion's front steps and scooted closer to each other.

"Man, this stinks…" Corey groaned.

"What? That we've lost our home and our manager for good?" Laney guessed.

"Yeah, but now that I think about it, something does smell kinda funny…"

"Oh…" Kon was embarrassed. "I think it was the mashed potatoes I just ate…"

"Kon!" Corey, Laney, and Kin shouted and held their noses.

**TURKEY CALL TRANSITION!**

Back inside the house, the Matthews family had just finished eating their dinners and they were all taking their plates into the kitchen for Aunt Jen's butlers to wash. Well, all of them except Jackie. She was sitting by herself at the kids' table, picking at her food. She noticed four empty chairs across from her and sighed.

"I wonder what they're doing right now…" she said to herself. "They probably all hate me. They probably found some other girl to be their manager and live with her now…I was so mad at them for wrecking dinner, but now I realize that they were only being their lovable selves. I should have convinced my parents to let them stay. But no! I had to go and say those hurtful words. Why does the author separate us so much?"

Just then, the brown-haired girl heard a fit of giggles coming from her aunt's office.

"What's that?" she wondered and got up to investigate. She peeked inside the office door and saw her older sister chatting with her older cousins.

"My favorite part was when Makeup Dude trampled you guys and called everyone blind idiots!" Tracy recalled.

"I loved it when the one with the blue hair played that stupid guitar of his and made everyone upset!" Gwen giggled.

"No, no, no!" Ben disagreed. "The absolute best part was when the fat one belched and blew off Mother's wig!"

All three laughed hysterically.

"You know, you two aren't bad!" Tracy said. "Acting all nasty and cynical behind your mom's back and getting her to think you're perfect angels when she's around? That would never work with my parents!"

Jackie gasped silently.

"Well, what can we say?" Ben shrugged.

"We're excellent at being rich and being dishonest!" Gwen finished and they all laughed again.

Jackie was very angry. So angry that she revealed herself.

"You!" she yelled. "It was you that made it so Aunt Jen would kick Grojband out! I should have known!"

Tracy was surprised to find that her sister had been spying on her at first, but then she grinned.

"Aww, is my simple-minded little sister upset that she lost her favorite band?" Tracy pinched Jackie's cheek and the twins snickered.

"You won't think I'm simple-minded when I tell Mom and Dad that you sabotaged dinner to make my friends look bad!"

The younger sister turned to leave but her cousins blocked her path.

"Oh, you won't be telling Mom and Dad anything! Not this time!"

"You're just delaying the inevitable Tracy! You and I both know things never work out for you near the end of these stories!"

"Oh yeah? Well not this time! From now on, I'm writing my own story!" Tracy paced back and forth. "A story about how I, Tracy Matthews, the prettiest girl in the universe, beat my sister at everything, defeat my most-hated rock band and win over the hottest boy in school, hunky Rick Salary! And the first chapter will be all about how me and the totally cool twins, Ben and Gwen, sabotage Thanksgiving dinner so Grojband has to leave our family and our garage forever! And it'll have way more reviews than this pathetic story!"

Jackie looked behind her and smiled.

"Oh really? Well I think you've just received your first review Tracy."

"I have?"

"Yeah. It's from TheBossOfYouTimesTwo and it says 'You're in big trouble young lady'."

Ben and Gwen looked behind them and gasped when they saw Aunt Jen looking down on them with her arms crossed. The rest of the family was there too, listening in.

"Mummy!" the twins cried.

"I really loathe you…" Tracy muttered to the author.

I know ;)

Meanwhile, Grojband was still sitting on the front steps of Aunt Jen's mansion.

"Man, we really messed up this time guys." Corey said sadly. "This was probably the biggest mistake of our lives. Not only did we ruin another one of our best friend's family events, but we also made her lose the right to be our best friend."

"Not that it matters." Laney mentioned. "She probably doesn't want to be friends with us anyway."

Kin had a tissue in his hand. "This is the worst day ever! Jackie's love for us has faded! It's like the last chapter all over again! Except this time, her hatred is real! Why do all of my little mistakes have to cause so much misfortune?" he sobbed. "JACKIE! FORGIVE ME!"

He then felt someone's warm arms wrap around his neck.

"Kon! Cut it out! Can't you see I'm not in the mood for one of your bear hugs right now?"

"I'm over here Kin." Kon was across from his brother.

"Huh?" Kin looked up and was incredibly surprised to see Jackie hugging him.

"I forgive you." she smiled.

"Jackie!" Kin embraced his crush and sniffled. "You came back! But why? I thought you were mad at us?"

"Mad? Nah! I could never stay mad at my favorite band."

"You don't have to try to cheer us up Jacks." Laney leaned her hand against her cheek. "We know we ruined your Thanksgiving dinner."

"Yeah, we don't deserve your pity." Corey agreed.

"Uh-huh…" Kon mumbled.

"What are you guys talking about? You didn't wreck dinner at all!"

"Wait, what?" Corey was confused.

"In fact, now that I think about it, Thanksgiving here is always so boring! All we do is sit at a table and eat quietly. But having you guys around made things a whole lot funner! I'm glad my parents let you come."

"So…does that mean your family isn't mad?" Kon guessed.

"Oh, we're terribly cross all right!" Aunt Jen came outside holding Ben and Gwen by their ears. The rest of the family followed her. "But it has nothing to do with your all's rude behavior!"

"Yeah! As Jackie said, it made dinner a lot more interesting!" Uncle Bobby declared. "Not at all like last year's! Or the year before that! Or the year before that! Or-"

"All right darling." Aunt Jen interrupted. "You've made your point. Anyway, I wanted to apologize for accusing you all of spoiling our Thanksgiving. In fact, I'm certain none of you would have acted so beastly if my naughty children hadn't gotten in the way. They're the ones who really ruined our festive feast! Them and my horrid older niece!"

Mr. Matthews noticed Tracy texting on her phone and took it away.

"Whom I should mention isn't going to be seeing Rick Salary for a week!"

"What?!" Tracy shrieked.

Mrs. Matthews put her hand on Jackie's shoulders. "We're very sorry we got so angry before, sweetheart. And for thinking you were responsible for your friends' poor manners."

"Speaking of which, I have an announcement to make." Aunt Jen summoned Grojband. "Would you all please come forward?"

The band didn't know what was going on, but they did as they were told.

"I must say, I've never met anybody like you four." Jen commented. "You're the exact opposites of all the people I'm acquainted with. You're not polite or courteous…" she sniffed the air. "Oh! Or hygienic for that matter. And you're certainly not the most sophisticated bunch I've ever encountered."

Grojband looked down in disappointment.

"…But, I'm going to invite you into the family anyway."

"Huh?" Grojband went.

"But-but-wha?" Kin was flabbergasted.

"I know. I know. You all don't believe me. That's understandable. I don't believe myself either. The truth is I had already decided ahead of time that I didn't want you in the family. Mainly because you're rock musicians. But after seeing how much my younger niece loves and cares about you, I changed my mind immediately."

"So…does this mean?" Corey started.

Jen nodded. "From now on, I shall think of you all as my nephews!"

Laney gasped and growled.

"Oh. And one niece." Jen corrected herself and Laney calmed down.

"And because you're a part of the Matthews unit now, you're going to need a place to stay." Mrs. Matthews spoke up.

"Hope you don't mind our garage because it's the only room left in the house!" Mr. Matthews joked.

Kin squealed and hugged Jackie's father's legs. "It's perfect! Thank you so much! Dad…"

Mr. Matthews shoved him off. "Let's not push it, keyboard player."

"Sorry…"

"And as for you two…" Aunt Jen turned to Ben and Gwen. "I think you have something to say to your new cousins."

"We're sorry we made you look bad in front of Mother…" Ben and Gwen said simultaneously.

"No worries." Corey shrugged it off. "We're used to people trying to sabotage us."

The wicked twins glared in response and were about to walk away, but their mother stopped them.

"Not so fast my 'little angels', there's still the matter of your punishment."

The next thing Ben and Gwen knew, they were sitting at the children's table all by themselves, while everyone else ate dessert in the dining room. Tracy stormed up to them.

"I am never teaming up with you two again! Because of you, I'm not going to see Rick Salary for seven whole days! Not to mention your evil plans are worse than Macy's! It's kids like you that make me sick!"

As soon as the older girl left, Ben whispered in his sister's ear.

"Hmph! Nobody talks to us like that!"

"Next year, let's try to humiliate her!" Gwen decided.

"Deal!"

The rest of the family was laughing and having a good time at the adult table.

"This is the best Thanksgiving ever!" Jackie announced.

"Yeah! We should do this again next year!" Corey concurred.

"You're always welcome here, my boy!" Aunt Jen snapped her fingers and one of her butlers came over with a bottle. He filled everyone's glass with a familiar bubbly liquid. "A toast! To our newest members of the family, Grojband!"

They all clinked their glasses together and took a sip.

"Ahh…" Uncle Bobby finished his glass and looked to his wife. "I don't know how you do it dear! That there cream soda is the best I've ever tasted!"

Kin gasped in horror when he saw his empty glass and ducked under the table. Kon's stomach rumbled and his cheeks puffed up.

"Oh no! Not again!" Laney cried.

Luckily, Corey thought quickly and grabbed the garage door.

"Happy Thanksgiving everyone!" he slammed the door shut.

* * *

**35 original scenarios left! 28 slots available!**

**Hey you did it! You reached the end of this extremely long story! Congratulations! I'm really proud of you (unless of course you cheated and just scrolled all the way down to the bottom without reading anything)! As a reward, here's number 2 of my Top 10 Grojband Dethroning Moments:**

**#2: This scene is from the *sniffle* last episode of Grojband, "Hear Us Rock Part 2" and it takes place just before Grojband goes into outer space to battle the Orb Experience for the second and final time. Trina and Mina are preparing to follow their rivals so they can watch them fail in front of the whole world. However, just as Mina tells Trina how much she can't wait to be zero gravity BFFs with her, Trina does the cruelest thing she's ever done to her so-called "best friend". She tells the girl in glasses that she's not coming with her because she's saving Nick Mallory instead, even though Mina has been with her since the beginning and has done everything in her power to make the pink-haired brat happy, while Nick has flat-out ignored her and hasn't shown her any love whatsoever. What's worse is that despite all that Mina has put herself through for Trina, Trina is still ungrateful and claims that Mina could have done better at everything. She then blasts off in her spaceship and leaves a heartbroken Mina behind. The good thing about this scene is, Mina eventually stands up to Trina and scolds her for ditching her back on earth. And while we don't know what happened to the both of them after that, it can be assumed that the two are no longer friends. So good for you Mina. Good for you.**

**Okay guys, I hate to do this to you again, but I'm not going to be uploading anything next week. I have final exams coming up and it's important that I use this time to prepare for them. So I won't be writing up any more chapters until I'm finished with my exams (hopefully sometime after Friday). I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and I'll see you next time!**


	62. Too Cool For Yule

**Merry Christmas everyone! Oh look, I finally posted a holiday chapter on an actual holiday. Crazy, right? I know. This holiday-themed story is based on a holiday-themed scenario given to me by AA:**

**"It's Christmas time and a huge blizzard has hit Tranquil Town. Corey's trying to write a Christmas song and Kin is trying to get a kiss from Jackie under the mistletoe. But everything is put on hold when Jackie and Tracy get stuck out in the blizzard together and Grojband heads out to save them. And maybe Jackie and Tracy have a little heart to heart but I doesn't last long. ****I know this is a Grojband Christmas and it should focus on music but I think this could work too"**

**Thanks for all your awesome suggestions, AA. I hope you keep giving me more. You rock ;) This is my Christmas present to you and everyone else. Please enjoy. (WARNING: Very long!)**

**I don't own any of the songs.**

* * *

**Chapter 62**

**Too Cool For Yule**

It was the morning of Christmas Eve and the members of Grojband were all hard at work. Laney was tuning her bass, Kin was working on an invention to woo Jackie, and Kon was enjoying some of Jackie's mom's homemade Christmas cookies. But Corey was the busiest of them all. He was sitting on the sofa trying to write lyrics to a Christmas song.

"Trees that sparkle, bells that jingle, this year we'll all dance like a…shingle! How's that?" he asked Laney.

Laney raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know what a shingle is?"

"And…there! Finally finished!" Kin announced.

"With what?" Kon said with a mouthful of gingerbread.

"My latest invention! Behold…" Kin revealed what looked like a hat with a bit of mistletoe attached to it. "The mistletopper!"

The others stood blank.

"Uh…" Corey muttered.

"Why bother to hang up your mistletoe when you can wear it?" Kin demonstrated by putting the mistletopper on his head. "It's festive and stylish! And it's guaranteed to get me a kiss from Jackie!" he sighed.

"I thought you already got a kiss from Jackie." Kon recalled. "Like, two chapters ago."

"That kiss was on the cheek! It doesn't count! This time I'm going to get a proper kiss! A real kiss! And thanks to the power of the mistletopper, I'm sure to get it!"

Laney chuckled. "Oh really? How? Does the mistletoe have some sort of hypnotic device inside of it?"

"Nope! All it has is the power of tradition! Nobody can resist a good tradition!"

"Dude, just because you taped some leaves and berries onto a top hat doesn't mean Jackie will want to kiss you." Corey pointed out.

"Oh yeah? Well we'll just see about that when she gets home from shopping with her parents! I hope she likes peppermint breath!" the scientist stuck a candy cane into his mouth and started sucking on it. "By the way, how's our song for the Christmas gig coming along?"

"Not so good." Corey shook his head. "No matter how hard I try, all of the words sound wrong! If only I could come up with something a bit more…Christmasy…"

"You know Core, you don't have to make the song all about Christmas." Laney told her leader. "After all, there are plenty of other holidays that people celebrate during this time of year."

"Yeah, but Christmas is more widely known, Lanes! Everybody loves Christmas!"

"I hate Christmas!" Tracy complained to Macy in her room. "It's nothing but a lame, sickening, and over-commercialized day of the year! Out of all the stupid holidays, Christmas is the absolute stupidest! Bah humbug or whatevs!"

"But Tracy, how could you possibly hate Christmas?" Macy was wearing reindeer antlers. "It's the one day where everybody has a chance to spend time with their loved ones, give thanks, and be happy!"

"That's what I don't like about it! Everybody's happy on Christmas except me! And you wanna know why? Because nobody gives me the stuff I want! Last year I asked for a mini-skirt to go with the tank top I have in my closet, but instead I got a pair of nerdy elf ears and tube socks with some dumb reindeer on it! It's like people don't know a fashion crisis when they see one!"

"But Tracy, Christmas isn't just about getting presents. It's about family and friends and showing how much you care for them. And it's also about love and peace and joy and-"

"Put a stocking in it Macy! Before I throw up!" Tracy changed the subject. "You wanna know the worst part about Christmas, specifically this Christmas?Fromojband is performing at some mindless holiday show this year and their music is going to fill the air with revolting noise!"

"Don't you mean joyful noise?"

"No! When have their songs ever been joyful?!"

"Um-"

"I wish those losers didn't have a gig! Then they'd be just as miserable as me!" Tracy paused. "Yeah…that's not a bad idea…not bad at all…why should I be the only one to suffer through this lame holiday? In fact, why should I suffer at all? If Sewojband is unhappy, then I'll be happy! It's totes the perfect plan!"

The teen opened her window and stuck her head through it.

"Oh totally great and powerful Christmas gods! Hear my plea! I wish the absolute worst thing ever would happen to Grojband!"

She slammed her window shut and clapped her hands together.

"Well, that took care of that."

"Christmas gods?" Macy was confused. "Since when do you believe in Christmas gods? I thought you hated this holiday."

"I hate Grojband more."

"But, is there really a need to ask the 'Christmas gods' for help when we can just ruin Grojband's festivities ourselves? You know, like we always do?"

"Christmas is all about miracles, Macy. And getting everything you want without having to lift a finger. SO GET WITH THE PROGRAM ALREADY!"

Macy fell over from Tracy's loud voice.

**GINGERBREAD TRANSITION!**

Corey was still trying to come up with lyrics for a Christmas song.

"Stockings, snow, and lots of holly…it's the season for being…" he beamed. "Incredibly happy! How's that?"

Laney facepalmed which provoked Corey to groan and crumple up his paper.

"Aw, what's the point? It's hopeless…"

Just then, Kin heard the sound of a door opening and he gasped excitedly.

"Jackie's home! Time to turn on the charm!" he took the candy cane out of his mouth and strolled up to the door. He was about to open it and invite Jackie in, but unfortunately, she opened it herself and accidentally hit him in the face. She didn't seem to notice this, however.

"Hi guys!" she greeted Corey, Laney, and Kon. The manager was decked out in a red elf costume and Santa hat. She was carrying a whole bunch of shopping bags.

The three kids ran up to her and gave her a group hug.

"Hey Jacks, merry Christmas!" Corey looked inside one of the bags. "What's in here?"

Jackie snatched the bag away before Corey had a chance to peek inside it.

"Uh, uh, uh! These are for tomorrow, mister!" she booped his nose.

"Tomorrow?" Kon whined. "Aw, but that's so far from now! I can't wait that long! Can't we just open one little present Jacks? Pretty please?"

"Sorry big fella, but rules are rules! No opening presents until Christmas morning. Santa's orders!" she gave Kon a tiny poke in the stomach which made him giggle. Then she started looking around the garage. "Hey, where's Kin?"

The door to the garage slowly closed and Kin emerged from behind it, looking very dazed.

"Oh! There you are!" Jackie helped the keyboardist stand. "Merry Christmas Kin."

Kin shook his head and looked up at Jackie's beautiful smiling face. He couldn't help but blush and smile back.

"Oh, um…carry Mistmas, I mean, scary Blissmas, er, bleary Gizznuss…uh, you too Jackie." he chuckled nervously.

"Hm…" Jackie rubbed her chin. "There's something different about you today Kin. But I just can't put my finger on it."

"Oh! Are you talking about my new mistletopper?" Kin pointed to his hat.

"Well, yeah I noticed that, but…it's also something else…something…" she leaned in closer.

"Yes!" Kin whispered to himself and puckered up.

But just as their lips were about to touch, Jackie sniffed.

"Mm…yeah, that's it! You have peppermint breath! Those candy canes are irresistible, huh?"

Kin's mouth dropped open as Jackie walked to where Corey was.

"So how's the Christmas song going, Core?"

"I don't know if Grojband will be singing any Christmas songs this year Jacks." Corey informed her. "All the lyrics I've written so far are terrible. There's no way we can sing them at the Christmas show."

"Aw, don't overwork yourself Core." Jackie put a hand on her guitarist's back. "Christmas is supposed to be a relaxing time of the year. If you can't think of the right words to a song, why bother writing the song at all?"

"Hm…I guess you're right. But if I don't write a song, what are we supposed to sing at our Christmas gig?"

"Well, now that I think about it, most people prefer to sing cover songs during Christmas."

"Cover songs?" Kon inquired.

"Yeah. That's when someone sings a song that somebody else wrote but does it in their own style."

"I'm sorry. I still don't get it." Corey shrugged.

Jackie giggled. "Looks like I'll just have to show you." she stood on the coffee table and started singing.

_Jackie: It's the most wonderful time of the year_

_With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you_

_'__Be of good cheer'_

_It's the most wonderful time of the year_

Corey stood up. "Oh! Now I get it! Let me try!"

_Corey: It's the hap-happiest season of all_

_With those holiday greetings and much happy meetings_

_When friends come to call_

_It's the hap-happiest season of all_

Laney and Kon smiled and they couldn't help but join in. Laney put a marshmallow on a stick and held it over a fire.

_Laney: There'll be parties for hosting_

_Marshmallows for toasting_

_And caroling out in the snow_

Kon held a flashlight under his face.

_Kon: There'll be scary ghost stories_

_And tales of the glories _

_Of Christmases long, long ago_

_Kin: It's the most wonderful time of the year_

_There'll be much mistletoeing_

_And hearts will be glowing_

_When loved ones are near_

Kin squeezed Jackie into a hug and leaned in to kiss her. But Corey swooped in and took Jackie away.

_Corey: It's the most wonderful time of the year_

The beanie-wearing boy began to dance with Jackie. Kin had a look of jealousy on his face and he stormed up to the two of them. Unfortunately, they smacked right into him while they were dancing and he landed in a corner of the garage.

_Jackie: There'll be parties for hosting_

_Corey: Marshmallows for toasting_

_Both: And caroling out in the snow_

_Laney and Kon: There'll be scary ghost stories_

_And tales of the glories_

_All four: Of Christmases long, long ago_

"Time for the big finish!" Jackie declared.

_All (except Kin): It's the most wonderful time of the year_

_Jackie: There'll be much mistletoeing_

_And hearts will be glowing_

_All: When loved ones are near_

_It's the most wonderful time_

_Yes the most wonderful time_

_All: Oh the most wonderful time_

_Of the year!_

Kin had just finished attaching a rope to the ceiling and was standing on top of a stack of boxes. He pulled out a bottle of breath spray and sprayed some in his mouth. Then he grabbed onto the rope and swung down to where Jackie was, puckering his lips. The other four did poses and Kin flew right by them. He looked ahead of him and became terrified.

"Uh-oh…"

**SMACK!**

Kin let go of the rope and landed face first into a blue tank top. He looked up and saw an evil scowl aimed at him.

"Oh…" he sweated nervously. "Hello Tracy…"

"Klutzy Nerd." Tracy punched Kin in the face and sent him flying into Jackie's arms. "Not sorry to interrupt your little party, twerps. I'm taking my car to the mall to do some Christmas shopping."

"Christmas shopping?" Jackie repeated. "For who?"

"Me! Duh! Who else deserves to get the best presents around the holidays? Now move it or lose it!" she shoved Corey and Kon out of the way and got into her car.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Jackie opened the car door. "You can't just leave! Mom and Dad said that you have to drive me and my band to the Christmas show!"

"Ew! There's like, zero chance you and your freak friends are getting in my car! Anyway, why don't Mom and Dad drive you?"

"They're visiting Grandma and Grandpa! They won't be back for a while and my band's gig is in less than two hours! You have to give us a ride!"

"I don't have to do squat! Now beat it!" Tracy kicked her sister out of the car, started the ignition, and pressed a button on the garage door opener. As soon as she did that, she, Jackie, and the band were immediately greeted by a cold wind and lots of snow. Everyone started shivering.

"Brr…" Jackie's teeth chattered. "Where'd all this snow come from? The weatherman didn't predict any crazy snowstorms!"

Corey looked ahead. "Aw man! It looks like a blizzard! There's no way we'll be able to play now! Our Christmas gig is ruined!"

"Yes!" Tracy said to herself. "My wish came true! Finally things are gonna go my way this Christmas! Time to go celebrate my victory at the mall! Hee, hee!"

Tracy was about to drive out of the garage but Jackie stopped her again.

"Wait! Are you crazy? There's no way you'll be able to get through that blizzard!"

"Oh, I get it! You're upset that your little gig is cancelled so you're trying to get me to stay home too! Well it ain't gonna work, little sister! Now get outta the way!"

"Tracy! I'm telling you! It's not safe to go out there!" Jackie reached for Tracy's keys.

"Hey! Let go, shrimp!"

"You let go!"

"No, you let go!"

Tracy tried to kick the younger girl out of her car again, but Jackie's grip was too strong and she held on.

"Listen to me you obnoxious runt, I am taking my car to the mall and there is nothing you can do to stop me!" the older girl stamped her foot onto the gas pedal and the car sped out of the garage.

"Jackie!" Kin wailed while the rest of Grojband stood in shock.

Tracy's car drove out onto the snowy, frozen road and slid back and forth. Luckily, there were no other cars around, due to the bad weather, but it didn't stop the two sisters from swerving and spinning out of control.

"Tracy! Now look what you've done!" Jackie shouted.

"What are you talking about? This is what I wanted to do! You're the only thing standing in my way!" she kicked her sister even harder.

"Hey! Stop it! I'm gonna fall out!"

"That's the idea Einstein!" Tracy grunted and the two of them continued to fight until they were almost out of the neighborhood.

Jackie looked the other way and gasped.

"Tracy! Look out!"

"Nice try! I'm not gonna fall for that o-" Tracy gasped too when she noticed a rabbit hopping right in front of her. She turned the steering wheel in an attempt to avoid it but this caused the car to spin all over the icy road. The Matthews' sisters screamed and held onto each other as they crashed into a huge snowy hill and fell out of the car. The good news: they weren't hurt. The bad news: They were miles away from home and they couldn't use Tracy's car to get back because it was severely damaged.

Tracy stood up and brushed the snow off of her pants. She looked up and saw a sign that read: 'You Are Now Leaving The Tranquil Town Suburbs'.

"Nice going half-pint!" she pointed at the sign. "Thanks to you, we're stuck out in this freezing cold blizzard, my car is busted, and we have no other way of getting home! I hope you're happy!"

Jackie got up. "Hey! Don't blame me! You're the one who just had to go to the mall!"

"And I would be at the mall right now if you hadn't butted in and ruined everything like you always do!"

"Me?! I didn't ruin anything! It's all your fault! If you had just used your brain and decided to go to the mall when the storm cleared up, we both wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Whatever! All I know is I am not about to be stranded in this icky winter weather with my bratty, snot-nosed little sister forever! We have got to find a way home!"

Jackie folded her arms. "Okay fine. Any bright ideas, Sherlock?"

"I'm thinking!" Tracy scratched her chin and beamed. "I got it! My phone is still in the car! I'll call Macy and she'll come get me out of this!"

The taller Matthews rushed to her car door and pulled on the handle. But it wouldn't budge.

"C'mon you stupid thing!" Tracy struggled.

"What's the hold-up?"

"The door won't open!"

Jackie took a look at the handle and noticed it was covered with ice.

"No wonder. The handle's completely frozen!"

"No! This cannot be happening! I'm doomed! I'm never going to get home now! I'll be stuck out here forever! I'll probably starve or freeze to death and nobody will even notice I'm gone! And that means I'll never see my room or my sweaters or Rick Salary again! Which means he'll probably start dating another girl like…like…Macy! And then they'll live out the rest of their lives all happy and junk and they'll forget all about me! Because I'll be nothing but a frozen skeleton buried under a pile of snow by then!"

"Uh…" Jackie stammered.

"And do you know what the worst part is?" Tracy got in her face. "Out of everyone in the whole world, I have to suffer my long and painful death with you!"

Jackie was angry now. "Oh yeah? Well what about me? It's not like you're the only one with problems! After all, I have to spend my last few days on earth with you! I'm gonna be the one who suffers the most!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"ARE TOO!"

Jackie's scream was so loud that it echoed over the hill. Then suddenly, the ground started shaking and the next thing the girls knew, they were buried in an avalanche of snow. But luckily for the two of them, a pair of furry hands was there to pull them out and bring them to safety.

Meanwhile at Jackie's house, Kin was having one of his panic attacks.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no! This is terrible! Jackie's gone! She's lost outside in that blizzard with no way of getting home! The poor thing's probably cold, scared, and hungry! She's all alone out there with no one to hug her, or reassure her, or give her the love and kindness she deserves! The only company she has is…" he shuddered in disgust. "Tracy! This is the worst Christmas ever! I'm never gonna see Jackie again!"

Corey noticed tears forming in the keyboardist's eyes and freaked out.

"No, no, no!" he warned. "We really don't need another flood in the house!"

Kin sniffed and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm sorry…I can't help it. You guys know Jackie means everything to me."

Laney placed a hand on Kin's shoulders.

"Aw, Kin. We get it. The rest of us are worried about Jackie too. But it's Christmas. You can't feel sad on Christmas. It's the one day a year where we all get that special gift."

"Exactly my point Laney. And it looks like this year I'm not going to get mine."

Kin sadly walked over to his keyboard and played a chord.

_Kin: I don't want a lot for Christmas_

_There is just one thing I need_

_I don't care about the presents_

_Underneath the Christmas tree_

Kon offered his brother a present but he gently pushed it away. Then he went up to the window in the garage and pressed his face up against it.

_Kin: I just want you for my own_

_More than you could ever know_

_Make my wish come true_

Kin pulled out his photo of Jackie.

_Kin: All I want for Christmas is you_

The others picked up their instruments and played along with the song.

_Kin: I don't want a lot for Christmas_

_There is just one thing I need_

_Don't care about the presents_

_Underneath the Christmas tree_

_I don't need to hang my stocking_

_There upon the fireplace_

_Santa Claus won't make me happy_

_With a toy on Christmas day_

_I just want you for my own_

_More than you could ever know_

_Make my wish come true_

_All I want for Christmas is you_

_Corey, Laney, Kon: You, Jackie_

_Kin: Oh I won't ask for a white Christmas_

_Since we just got too much snow_

_I'm just gonna keep on waiting_

_Underneath my mistletoe_

_I won't make a list and send it_

_To the North Pole for Saint Nick_

_I won't even stay awake to _

_Hear those magic reindeer click_

_Cause I just want you here tonight_

_Holding on to me so tight_

_What more can I do?_

_Jackie, all I want for Christmas is you_

_Corey, Laney, and Kon: You, Jackie_

_Corey: All the lights are shining so brightly everywhere_

_Laney: And the sound of children's laughter fills the air_

_Kon: And everyone is singing_

_I hear those sleigh bells ringing_

_Kin: Santa won't you bring me the one I really need?_

_Won't you please bring my baby to me?_

_Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas_

_This is all I'm asking for_

_I just wanna see my Jackie_

_Standing outside the groj door_

_Oh I just want you for my own_

_More than you could ever know_

_Make my wish come true_

_Jackie all I want for Christmas…_

_Is…YOOOOOUUUU!_

_Corey, Laney, and Kon: You, Jackie_

_All he wants for Christmas is you, Jackie_

_All he wants for Christmas is you, Jackie_

_All he wants for Christmas is you, Jackie_

_All he wants for Christmas is you, Jackie!_

Then suddenly, the song was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. Macy stepped into the garage with a worried look on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

"No you're fine." Kin reassured her. "We were just about finished anyway."

"Oh! Well in that case, have you guys seen Tracy? I looked all over your house but I couldn't find her."

"Yeah, we've seen her." Corey said.

"Really? Oh that's great! Where is she?"

"Uh…she kinda took Jackie and her car out into that freezing snow storm…"

"What?!" she shrieked. "Oh no! This is not good! Tracy's in trouble! Big trouble! She's going to die out there unless I do something to rescue her! Wait, do I want to rescue her? What am I thinking? Of course I do! She'll be really mad at me if I don't!"

"Uh, how can she get mad at you if she's not-" Laney began.

"I'M COMING TRACY!" Macy yelled and ran out the door.

"…Man is she weird." Kon noted. "Who would wanna risk their life to save someone like Tracy?"

Then Kin got an idea.

"I'll tell you who! We would!"

"Are you off your nut?" Laney scolded. "Tracy's done nothing for us except ruin our gigs, insult us, and cause us tremendous pain! I can't think of a single reason as to why we should rescue her!"

"But I can!" Corey spoke up. "Without Tracy, Grojband has no more lyrics! So even if we do hate her, we have to make sure she comes home safe and sound otherwise we'll never play another show again!"

"I dunno Core. Seems kinda risky. After all, what are the chances of us surviving out there in that horrible snow storm?"

"C'mon Laney, we don't have a choice!" Kin persuaded. "Besides, if we find and save Tracy, then there's a good chance we'll be able to save Jackie too!"

"Well…"

"Please? You remember what I just sang! Jackie's the only thing I want for Christmas! I'm miserable without her!"

Laney sighed. "Okay, fine. But just to let you know, I'm doing this for Jackie, not for Tracy."

"Me too." Kon agreed.

"That goes double for me Kin." Corey gave a thumbs-up.

"Thanks guys. You're the best friends a nerdy kid could ever have." Kin hugged them all before turning around and calling: "Hey Macy! Can we get a ride?"

**JINGLE BELLS TRANSITION!**

Tracy and Jackie woke up a little while later, feeling warm and toasty. They were both lying on a fuzzy-looking couch which was sitting in front of a fireplace. A fire was burning inside of it and a stocking was hung up on the chimney. There was also a Christmas tree standing on the other side of the room and Christmas decorations were hung up everywhere. It was clear to the two sisters that they were no longer outside in the freezing blizzard. In fact, they had no idea where they were.

Then suddenly, they both heard loud footsteps and saw a huge shadow approaching them. The shadow looked like it belonged to a monster. It moved very slowly but with every step it took, the creature got closer and closer. And the closer it got, the bigger it looked. The siblings grabbed ahold of each other and screamed in horror. Then the owner of the shadow revealed itself to be a tall and furry abominable snowman. One that Jackie and Tracy had met before.

"Hey, good to see you gals are finally awake!"

"Harry!" Jackie cried.

"Oh great…" Tracy groaned. "You again."

"Harry, what happened? What's going on?" Jackie asked.

"You girls got hit by a huge avalanche and fell unconscious under a pile of snow. You probably would have died out there if I hadn't have come and brought you to my cave. Cocoa?" he handed each of the girls a mug of hot chocolate.

"You mean you carried us all the way up Howling Heights?" Jackie guessed before taking a sip of her hot drink.

"What? No! This here's my Christmas cave. It's somewhere near the bottom of Howling Heights. I come here every winter to escape the climate change near the top of the mountain. I guess you could say it's like my own personal vacation home!"

"Oh…that's pretty cool!"

"Yeah, cool. Whatever." Tracy rolled her eyes. "Now tell me something, Harry. Why did you bring me here?"

"Uh…because I was worried about you?"

"Really? Are you sure it wasn't because you were trying to get me to take you back?"

"What?"

"Admit it, fleabag! You only took me out of that snow storm because you thought that I would be extremely grateful to you or whatever and would want to be your girlfriend again! Well it ain't gonna work, sax-breath! Because I still haven't forgotten the way you betrayed me at that restaurant four months ago!"

"What? Are you kidding? You're the one who betrayed me! In fact, that's why I was debating on whether or not to leave you out there to die! The only two reasons I didn't is because A. Your sister was with you and B. I could never live with myself if I let one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met perish in the snow."

"Beautiful girl?" Jackie snorted. "Harry, I think you've been living up on that mountain for too long!"

"Why don't you shut your pie hole you little parasite?!" Tracy threatened. "You clearly don't know the meaning of true beauty! As if that should come as a surprise to you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hey gals! Calm down! There's no reason to fight!" Harry intruded. "It's Christmas!"

"Exactly!" Tracy grumped. "Christmas is a time for me to be happy! And I won't be happy if I have to spend my holiday with the two of you! So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find my way back home."

"Whoa!" Harry blocked the exit. "You can't go out there! The blizzard's getting worse by the minute! You won't survive!"

"Move it you lice-filled carpet!" Tracy tried to get past her furry ex-boyfriend, but he wouldn't budge. "C'mon Harry! This isn't funny!"

_Tracy: I really can't stay_

_Harry: But baby it's cold outside_

_Tracy: Get out of my way_

_Harry: But baby it's cold outside_

_Tracy: This evening has been_

_Harry: Been hoping that you'd drop in_

_Tracy: So very nice_

_Harry: I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice_

_Tracy: My mother will start to worry_

_Harry: Beautiful, what's your hurry?_

_Tracy: And father will be pacing the floor_

_Harry: Listen to the fireplace roar_

_Tracy: So really I'd better scurry_

_Harry: Beautiful, please don't hurry_

_Tracy: Well, maybe just a hot chocolate more_

_Harry: Put some records on while I pour_

_Tracy: The neighbors might think_

_Harry: But baby it's bad out there_

_Tracy: I still think you stink_

_Harry: No cabs to be had out there_

_Tracy: I wish I knew how_

_Harry: Your eyes are like starlight now_

_Tracy: To break this spell_

_Harry: I have to say your hair looks swell_

_Tracy: I oughta say no, no, no sir_

_Harry: Mind if I move in closer?_

_Tracy: At least I'm gonna say that I tried_

_Harry: What's the sense in hurting my pride?_

_Tracy: I really can't stay_

_Harry: Baby don't hold out_

_Tracy: Ah, but it's cold outside_

The two of them smiled at each other as they walked over to the couch. Tracy kicked Jackie out of her spot and sat down with Harry. She laid down on his belly and poked him on the nose. He grinned and poked her back. Tracy sighed happily and leaned in to kiss him. But then she remembered they were supposed to be broken up and headed for the door again.

_Tracy: I simply must go_

_Harry: But baby it's cold outside_

_Tracy: The answer is no_

_Harry: But baby it's cold outside_

_Tracy: The welcome has been_

_Harry: So lucky that you dropped in_

_Tracy: So nice and warm_

_Harry: Look out the window at the storm_

_Tracy: My sister gives me a headache_

_Harry: Care for a slice of fruitcake?_

_Tracy: Don't want to be with her anymore_

_Harry: Waves upon a tropical shore_

_Tracy: It's just a few stupid snowflakes_

_Harry: Who's gonna eat this fruitcake?_

_Tracy: Then again, you are still blocking the door_

_Harry: Never such a blizzard before_

_Tracy: I've gotta get home_

_Harry: But baby you'll freeze out there_

_Tracy: Say, lend me a coat_

_Harry: It's up to your knees out there_

_Tracy: You've really been grand_

_Harry: I thrill when you touch my hand_

_Tracy: But don't you see?_

_Harry: How can you do this thing to me?_

_Tracy: There's bound to be talk tomorrow_

_Harry: Think of my life long sorrow_

_Tracy: At least there will be plenty implied_

_Harry: If you caught pneumonia and died_

_Tracy: I really can't stay _

_Harry: Get over that old doubt_

_Both: Baby it's cold_

_Baby it's cold outside!_

Tracy pounced on top of Harry and they both laughed.

"Oh Harry, I forgot how soft and silky your fur was…and I think that's the first time I've ever heard you sing!"

"Same with you! We sound great together!"

"I know, right?" Tracy giggled. "It's kinda weird though…I've never sang like that before."

"Really? Never?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I have sung a few times in the past, but I've always done it solo. I've never, ever, ever, EVER performed with anyone else because…well, because…"

"Because you always put yourself before everyone else?" Harry guessed.

"Exactly! But now that I have sung with someone else, I feel…different…like I no longer see the world as a grody place where almost everyone is against me…and I don't feel like I'm better than anyone else anymore. I feel…I feel…like a brand new girl. Harry, I'm sorry I abandoned you at that restaurant four months ago. And I'm sorry I called you a lice-filled carpet. The truth is, since the day we broke up, I haven't gotten over losing you."

"Hey, it's cool. I haven't really gotten over losing you either."

"Oh you…"

Jackie, meanwhile, was watching the scene with a smile on her face.

"Wow, I can't believe I'm saying this, but…for once I'm not disgusted by my sister finding love!"

The teenager and yeti gave Jackie a look.

"Oops…I just ruined the moment, didn't I?"

Tracy sat down on the couch and beckoned to the younger girl. "Hey Jackie. Come here. I wanna talk to you."

Jackie groaned and sat down next to her older sibling. "Okay, let's get it over with. And try not to get spit on my face, please."

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna yell at you. I just wanna ask you something."

"Ask me what? Why I ruin your life?"

"No. Just listen, okay? This is really important." Tracy paused. "…Did you know that when we were really little, I actually used to like having you around?"

"Whaaaaat?"

"I know, I know. Hard to believe. But it's true. The day Mom and Dad brought you home from the hospital was one of the happiest days of my life. And when I looked at you for the first time, I kept telling myself how lucky I was to be your big sister."

"Heh heh, this is all a joke right? You're going to start screaming any minute now, right?"

"No! It's the truth! I swear! There really was a time when I didn't hate you! It was just so long ago, you probably don't remember it!"

"…R-r-really?"

Tracy grabbed Jackie's cheeks. "Really. The first few months after you were born, I practically carried you and played with you every chance I got! But then…things changed. One day, I asked Mom and Dad if they would play with me for a little while, but they were too busy with you to even spare me a glance. In fact, they stayed busy for the next year or so and I didn't have anyone to play with anymore. Most of the time I just stayed in my room with nobody to keep me company except Mr. Mouseface. It was then that I realized that you were the one keeping Mom and Dad away from me. That's why I've hated you all these years. I guess you could say…I was jealous."

"Jealous? Of me?"

Tracy shrugged. "Yeah…I probably should have told you that a long time ago, but I was so focused on trying to get rid of you, I forgot all about it."

"Tracy, I had no idea you felt that way. I never meant to take Mom and Dad away from you. I was just a baby. And you know how parents are. They have to pay attention to babies."

"Yeah. I know that now. And I'm really, really sorry for everything I've done to you. Can you forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me for hogging all of the love."

They both smiled and then, for the first time ever, they gave each other a warm, loving hug.

"You know, it's funny. Even after Mom and Dad stopped giving you endless attention, I still hated you for some reason. But now, I've forgotten what that reason is."

And what happened then? Well in Tranquil Town they say, Tracy's small heart grew three sizes that day.

But then, all of a sudden…

**CRASH!**

The heartwarming moment was interrupted by a car crashing right through the cave walls.

"Hey!" Harry went.

The car doors opened and Grojband and Macy piled out.

"Whose idea was it to smash into the cave?" Corey asked dazed.

"Yours Core." Laney reminded him.

"Oh…"

"Jackie!" Kin got out from under Kon and ran to his crush.

"Kin!" Jackie hugged him tightly and he hugged back.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay! We were all worried sick about you!"

"How did you know where I was?"

"Easy! We followed the music!" Corey explained. "Your voice is awesome by the way, Harry."

"Thanks man!" Harry gave him a thumbs-up.

"Jackie? Tell me. Did that she-beast of a sister of yours hurt you in any way?" Kin checked Jackie for injuries.

Tracy stood up. "What did you just call me?"

"Kin!" Jackie shushed him.

"Don't worry Jackie. Now that I'm here, that cold-hearted snake can't do anything mean to you."

"Kin, shh!"

"You must have been so miserable with that teenaged monster around. I'm sorry I couldn't get here to protect you sooner. But the good news is the storm is over and most of the snow on the road melted! So now you can come home and have Christmas with us and you don't have to spend another minute with your rotten, nasty, malicious, vile, sickening, repulsive sister!"

Tracy clenched her fists in anger.

"Kin…please stop talking." Jackie begged.

"What's the big deal Jacks?" Corey shrugged. "He's just reminding you of how awful Tracy is. Then again, how could you forget? It's practically common knowledge by now."

"Yeah!" Kon agreed. "Everybody knows she's the worst human being in Tranquil Town! Even those that don't know her have heard about how evil and hideous she is!"

Tracy's face turned a deep red color and she scowled with fury and hatred. It was at that point her heart began to shrink back down to its normal, tiny size.

"You guys please!" Jackie turned to Tracy. "Sis, I'm so sorry. They don't-"

"Now I remember why I've always hated you!" Tracy growled. "Because you like people who are dorky, filthy, smelly, and downright irritating! People like them!" she pointed at Grojband. "They're the reason why we can't be friends! They're the reason why I'll never, ever like you! Ever since you got into Garbojband, I've hated you more and more and more each day! And you wanna know why? Because they STINK! That's why! And you wanna know something else? YOU STINK TOO!"

Harry put his hands on his ex's shoulders.

"Hey babe, calm down! I thought you had everything worked out!"

"Don't touch me, you talking hair ball! My heart belongs to Rick Salary!" she looked back at Jackie. "Mark my words shrimp, no matter how old we get, no matter how nice you are to me, no matter how much attention I get from Mom and Dad, I will always hate you! And as long as those bozos are still hanging around in _my_ garage, I'll hate you even more! Do you hear me? I'LL HATE YOU FOREVER AND EVER!"

With that, the spoiled teenager stormed past her younger sister and met up with Macy.

"Macy! Take me home! I wanna spend my Christmas as far away from her as possible!"

Macy nodded and got back into her car.

"Of course Tracy! Whatever you want! Hey! Maybe when we get back, we could have our very own BFF Christmas party! Just you, me and a fresh batch of homemade Christmas cookies! Doesn't that sound good? What do you say?"

"Whatever. Just step on it, would ya? And while you're at it, call a tow company! My car is in need of some serious Jackie repairs."

And so the curly-haired nerdette backed her car out of the cave and drove off with her selfish best friend. Harry, Jackie, and Grojband didn't say anything at first.

"…So, should we call your parents and ask em to give us a ride home?" Laney asked Jackie.

"Nah. Not yet. I've got a better idea."

A little while later, the huge hole in the cave wall had been boarded up and everybody was enjoying themselves in front of the fire. Jackie and Grojband were sitting on the couch listening to Christmas tunes and sharing cookies with each other.

"Ahh…now this is my kind of Christmas!" Kon exclaimed before eating another snickerdoodle.

Harry came in carrying a tray with five steaming mugs on it.

"More hot cocoa guys?"

"Thanks Harry!" Corey took a mug and sipped from it. "You know Jacks, you were right. It was silly of me to get so stressed out about writing a song for Christmas this year. In fact, I don't even care that we lost our gig anymore! I'm just happy to be spending the holidays with all my best buds!" he put an arm around Laney.

"Aw, gee…thanks Core. We're happy to be with you too…" Laney blushed.

"Ahem." Kin cleared his throat and handed Jackie a present. "Merry Christmas Jackie."

Jackie took the box and opened it up.

"Wow Kin! A new clipboard!" she cried. "Thanks so much!"

"I know it's nothing special, but I couldn't afford to get you any big presents this year."

"It's perfect Kin. I love it. I just wish I had something to give you."

"Oh Jackie, you don't have to give me anything. All I want is to see you happy on Christmas."

"Hm…" Jackie thought about it. "Wait! I've got it! I know the perfect present for you Kin! Close your eyes."

"Really Jackie, I don't-"

"C'mon! Do it!"

Kin sighed and shut his eyes tight.

"Okay, good. Now don't move. Here comes your present."

Kin kept his eyes closed as Jackie leaned in and kissed his cheek. He gasped in surprise.

"Merry Christmas my favorite keyboardist…" Jackie smirked.

Hearts filled Kin's eyes and he fell into Kon's lap.

"I thought you said you didn't want a kiss on the cheek?" the bigger twin raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't. But what can I say? It's the thought that counts."

Just then, a light bulb appeared over Corey's head.

"Hey! I've got the perfect idea on how to end this special Christmas chapter! Harry! Hand me my guitar!"

"You got it!" Harry tossed the red instrument over to the blue-haired front man.

"Ready guys?" Corey said to the other band members. "It's time to deck the halls!"

**(Original Song: Blame it on the Mistletoe by Kendall Schmidt)**

_Laney, Kin, and Kon: Shoop, shoop, shoop de doop_

_Shoop, shoop, shoop de doop_

_Shoop, shoop, shoop de doop_

_Shoop, shoop, shoop_

_Corey: I would have taken you skating_

_Dancing under the lights_

_All I want for Christmas, baby, is to break the ice_

_Laney, Kin, and Kon: Shoop, shoop, shoop_

_Corey: I would have traded my presents_

_To see you under the tree_

_But you're cooler than a snowman's heart on Christmas Eve_

_I keep trying to find a way to show you what you mean to me_

_But I know you're not gonna let me off so easily_

_It's over your head and I don't know how_

_Every time you turn around_

_The mistletoe green, you know what it means_

_And I'm standing here_

_So let's push pause on the talking_

_I'll make the rules but it's just our luck_

_Hurry up and kiss me_

_While we can blame it on the mistletoe_

_All: Oh-oh-oh!_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!_

_Blame it on the mistletoe_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!_

_Blame it on the mistletoe_

_Corey: I've been writing new carols_

_Since the fourth of July_

_Laney, Kin, and Kon: Shoop, shoop, shoop de doop_

_Corey: Baby, without you here it's just another silent night_

_Laney, Kin, and Kon: Shoop, shoop, shoop de doop_

_Corey: You could hang up your stocking_

_All about the fire with mine_

_Laney, Kin, and Kon: Shoop, shoop, shoop de doop_

_Corey: So maybe Santa Claus can make one last stop tonight_

_Laney, Kin, and Kon: Shoop, shoop, shoop de doop_

_Corey: I keep trying to find a way to show you what you mean to me_

_But I know you're not gonna let me off so easily_

_It's over your head and I don't know how_

_Every time you turn around_

_The mistletoe green, you know what it means_

_And I'm standing here _

_So let's push pause on the talking _

_I'll make the rules but it's just our luck_

_Hurry up and kiss me _

_While we can blame it on the mistletoe_

_All: Oh-oh-oh!_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!_

_Blame it on the mistletoe_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!_

_Blame it on the mistletoe_

_Corey: It's over your head and I don't know how_

_Every time you turn around_

_The mistletoe green, you know what it means_

_And I'm standing here_

_So,_

_It's over your head and I don't know how_

_Every time you turn around_

_The mistletoe green, you know what it means_

_And I'm standing here_

_So let's push pause on the talking_

_I'll make the rules but it's just our luck_

_Hurry up and kiss me_

_While we can blame it on the mistletoe_

_All: Oh-oh-oh!_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!_

_Blame it on the mistletoe_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!_

_Blame it on the mistletoe_

Jackie and Harry applauded.

"Woohoo! Yeah!"

"Yay! Way to go guys!"

"It's official! This is the best Christmas ever!" Kon cheered.

"I agree..." Kin rubbed his cheek again.

"Yeah, I still would have rather sang a new song, but that was pretty fun too." Laney said.

"Don't sweat it Lanes. Christmas is supposed to be a relaxing time of the year." Corey reminded her. "We should just have fun and enjoy it while we can. And we hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas too! Happy holidays everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**34 original scenarios left! 25 slots available!  
**

**But wait! There's more! Since you guys are such loyal and attentive readers, I've decided to add a bonus to your Christmas gift (which I was going to give to you no matter what). I am proud to present to you the very last Dethroning Moment on my Top 10 Grojband Dethroning Moments list! Be prepared. It's a doozy (at least to me).**

**#1: ****This last scene is from Hear Us Rock Part 2 and it occurs right before Grojband performs their last song ever. As most of us hardcore Grojfans know, near the beginning of the first part of this episode, we learned that the world was ending and so Laney tries to reveal her feelings to Corey because she figures she won't have a chance to do so afterwards. However, after she becomes skeptical of Kin and Kon's theory on the apocalypse, she chickens out. At first it didn't seem like a big deal to me since this was only the first part of the episode and I figured the second part would give fans like me what they wanted all this time. Unfortunately, it didn't. After Grojband makes it to outer space to take care of the meteor that's about to destroy earth, the group of friends find out that saving the world might cost them their lives. Laney realizes that this could be her last moment with Corey so she steps forward before they start their song. Time to confess her feelings? Not quite. In Part 1, Laney decided against telling Corey the way she felt about him because she believed the world wasn't really ending and therefore, would still have time to tell him later. Yet when she learns that she and him might only have a short time left to live, the only thing she can say to him is "It's been a pleasure rocking with you". Not "I love you", not "I've always had a crush you", not even a subtle "I kinda like you". "It's been a pleasure rocking with you." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! After all the two of you have been through, after all you've done to develop your relationship, after you accidentally kissed each other on New Year's, you still can't tell him your feelings?! You could have died Laney. You could have disappeared forever and Corey still wouldn't have known how you felt about him. You really disappointed me this time. To tell the truth, this moment wouldn't have been on this last at all if Grojband was getting renewed for another season. But since it isn't, I had to make it my most hated scene in the entire series. Don't worry though. Eventually, when I remake Hear Us Rock, I'll make sure to do it right ;)**

**And that is the end of my Top 10 Grojband Dethroning Moments. Hope you guys didn't mind my super long rants. Now that I'm finished, let me know which Grojband scenes you hated that didn't make it onto this list. Also, tell me what you think the order of this list should have been (Ex: Did you hate number 5 more than number 3?). I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and I really hoped you enjoyed reading yet another holiday chapter (Note: I will not be doing one for New Year's, at least not right now. I think you know the reason why ;)). I'll try to work on the next story while I'm on break. See you guys later!**


	63. Pre-Hysteric Times

**Happy new year everyone! 2016 is finally here and so is the next chapter of Meeting Grojband! I'm really sorry it took me over a month to get this one done. I was really busy with school and homework assignments (had to write an 8-10 page paper. Ugh.) so I didn't have a lot of time to work on this fanfic. But now that I'm on a break, I managed to finish this original story which is based on a suggestion from Zach (aka UltimateGrojfan) and he said:**

**"I have a request: ANOTHER TIME TRAVEL CHAPTER. This time Grojband and Jackie go to the time of dinosaurs. And the dino's are smarter than Kin. So, they steal the time machine, and make a larger version of it, and go to the present. So, Jackie and Grojband have to sing the dino's a song to convince them to go back to the past. What do you think?"**

**Well, the minute I read this request, I knew exactly which dinosaurs to put into this scenario. A few years ago, I got into this old cartoon from the 90's called Eek Stravaganza! It's basically about this purple cat who's into helping everybody but gets into trouble every time he tries to help. To be honest, I didn't really like the show, mainly because the cat's voice is super annoying. But what did get me into this show was the segment that aired alongside it. A segment known as the Terrible Thunderlizards. This in my opinion, was far better and far more original than Eek! the Cat. The characters are funny, the concept is creative, and every episode is enjoyable in its own way. The theme song is even performed by Dee Snider from Twisted Sister! But the main reason I decided to use these specific characters for this chapter is because the show has little to no fanfiction anywhere. Almost nobody writes about these guys so I figured I would change that today. So yeah, if you haven't seen this show, I definitely recommend that you watch it. All of the episodes are available on YouTube so go watch it now!  
**

**Okay, that's all I have to say. Hope you enjoy Chapter 63! (Note: I do not own any of the characters)**

* * *

**Chapter 63**

**Pre-Hysteric Times**

Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kon were in their normal hangout spot (for those of you who are new readers, it's the garage). Each one of them was doing their own thing: Jackie was on her laptop, Corey was playing a handheld video game, Laney was plucking strings on her bass, and Kon was eating a grilled cheese sandwich. And even though they were all doing something different, they shared one thing in common at the moment: they were all bored out of their wits. But fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at things), this was about to change. For as soon as Kin came in to join the four adolescents, their lethargy was pretty much over.

"Hey guys! I've got great news!" Kin announced.

The others perked up and started shouting out guesses as to what the news was.

"You have more cheese?!"

"You bought me a new guitar?"

"You finally found a way to help us write lyrics?" **(A/N: I think you can guess who said what ;))**

"Nope! Even better! Like ten times better than all of those things!"

"Well hurry up and tell us Kin!" Jackie begged.

"Yeah bro! Hurry up! The excitement is killing me!" Kon jumped up and down.

"Okay! Get ready!" Kin turned around to grab something and the others watched with excitement in their eyes.

"Da, da, da, da!" Kin sang and unveiled what appeared to be a laser gun. "Presenting my latest, and quite possibly one of my greatest, inventions! The Lifetime Laser! Also known as my second time machine!"

Everybody groaned when Kin said this and immediately went back to what they were doing before.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Kin was confused. "I thought you guys would be happy?"

"Kin, don't you remember what happened when we used your last time machine?" Jackie reminded him.

"Yeah, but everything's fine now, Jackie. Lemonade's been reinvented thanks to me."

"No, not that. We went one year forward in time and got stuck in this time period because Tracy smashed the machine."

"Yeah, and if she smashes that one too, we may end up living in a far more dangerous time than this!" Laney added.

"Guys, this is different! Tracy won't destroy this baby! It's covered with a thick titanium glaze! It's almost completely indestructible! There's no way she'll be able to break it on her own!" he put the laser down on the coffee table.

"Wow, where'd you get the money to buy real titanium?" Jackie asked.

"Oh, I know a guy."

Tracy and Macy peeked through the door.

"Macy! Did you hear that? Klutzy Nerd made another time machine!"

"Yeah, I know." Macy nodded. "He must have a lot of time on his hands if he's able to actually finish a mechanism of such advanced technology. I mean, I haven't worked on my time machine since…I…became friends with…you…"

Tracy gave the shorter girl a mean glare before leaning her ear against the door.

"So how does your new time thingy work Kin?" Jackie inquired.

"Easy! It's just like the last one only in the form of a weapon! All you have to do is enter the correct time coordinates, push the button, and zap! You'll be immediately teleported to whatever time and place you want to go!"

"Hm…" Corey beamed. "Hey guys! I've got a great idea! Remember how sending ourselves into the future to make Grojband popular ended up being a huge disaster?"

"Core! You're not serious about making us do it again, are you?" Laney questioned.

"What? No way Lanes! Trust me, I really don't wanna see another cyborg takeover!"

"Then what is your idea Corey?" Jackie said.

"What if instead of sending ourselves into the future, we send ourselves into the past?"

"The past?" Kon repeated.

"Yeah! We could go back to say, the era of the Renaissance! Then we could play our music, inspire other people to write their own music, and become historical figures! By the time we get back, people will be forming lines just to see our faces! It's foolproof!"

"I don't know Core. Going back in time is one thing, but won't interfering with important ancient events cause some drastic changes in the future?" Laney pointed out.

"Who cares?" Kon cried. "I'm in!"

"Me too!" Kin agreed. "I've been meaning to test the Lifetime Laser for a while now."

"Then it's unanimous!" Corey declared.

"No it's not!" Laney shouted but Corey ignored her.

"Kin! Go get your laser doohickey! It's time…to change time…"

Laney groaned as Jackie put a hand on her gal pal's shoulders.

"No use complaining about it girlfriend. When it comes to stupid situations, we're always gonna be outvoted three to two."

"Hm, now where did I put that thing?" Kin began to look around for his invention. Tracy spotted it lying on the coffee table.

"Macy! Quick! Use that grappling hook thingy you literally just told me about thirty seconds ago to get that time gun!" Tracy ordered.

Macy nodded and when the band wasn't looking, she fired her grappling hook at the Lifetime Laser and snatched it away. Once she reeled it in, Tracy took it from her.

"Hee, hee! Perfect! Now, let's see here…" Tracy started pushing buttons on the ray gun.

"What are you doing Tracy?" Macy was curious.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to enter a totally dangerous time period into this stupid thing!"

"Oh okay…wait, why would you want to go to a dangerous time period?"

"Ugh! You're so clueless Macy! I don't want to go! I'm making it so those losers will send themselves away and never come back!"

"Oh, that makes much more sense! So, where are you going to send them Tracy?"

"Hee, hee, hee…oh, nowhere special, really. Just to a place where they'll be extremely vulnerable." Tracy finished entering the coordinates and the laser accepted them. She then had Macy return Kin's invention to the coffee table.

"Oh! There it is!" Kin picked it up. "And look! The coordinates are already set up! Okay guys! Get behind me!"

The others did so and Kin pointed the laser towards them. He was just about to push down on the trigger when…

"Wait!" Jackie interrupted. "Kin, don't you think you should check to make sure those time coordinates are right? I mean, what if they don't send us to the right place?"

"Oh Jackie, don't you worry about a thing! I know what I'm doing. We're all gonna be just fine."

"We'd better be." Laney threatened. "Otherwise, you're going to have to face some serious consequences!"

The young scientist gulped and fired the time laser.

**ZAP!**

The five of them disappeared.

"Yes!" Tracy fist-pumped. "Finally! They're all gone! Gone forever! I'll never see or hear my sister and her hideous bandmates again! I'm free! Free I tell you! Hee, hee, hee!"

"But Tracy, they still have that time gun with them! They can still find a way back home!" Macy reminded her.

"No worries Mace! They'll get eaten way before they can even think about coming back."

"Oh. Okay. Wait, eaten by what?"

Tracy just silently giggled to herself as she imagined all of the ways her kid sister and her friends would perish in the time period she sent them to.

**TIME TRAVEL TRANSITION!**

The five friends reappeared in a strange-looking place that was very different from the time they were currently living in. The ground was hard and covered in dirt, the sky was filled with some kind of smoke, and there were funny-looking trees everywhere. It was a place that none of them had ever been to before. A place that none of them expected to end up in. A place that, to them, looked rather…primitive.

Actually, to tell the truth, not all of them were unfamiliar with this new location. In fact, the minute they got there, Kin was starting to get a sense of deja vu. A feeling that he had already traveled to this specific time period before because he wanted to pick up a certain item. He just couldn't remember what it was at the moment.

"Um, I know I failed history and everything, but this doesn't look like the Renaissance era." Kon noted.

"Yeah Kin, where the heck are we?" Corey asked.

Kin tried to check the coordinates on the Lifetime Laser, but there was nothing on the screen except a bunch of static.

"It doesn't say. This is the first time I've used the Lifetime Laser so there's probably still a ton of bugs in the system. All I can say is, I've definitely been here before."

"Really?" Jackie tilted her head.

"Yeah, I must have come here way back when I still had my first time machine. I think I took something from this place and brought it back to the present time. Something that altered the future. Now if I could only remember what it was…"

"Kin? Kin! Hey there buddy!" a voice called from afar.

"Who said that?" Jackie was scared.

Kin turned around and he saw a short, chubby, bald caveman with a yellow beard running toward him. He was wearing red animal skin and he had on a pair of animal skin shoes. When Kin saw him, he recognized him immediately.

"Kin? Who is that guy?" Jackie questioned.

"Uh, who? Him? Oh, he's nobody. I've never seen him before in my life!" Kin insisted.

"Then how does he know your name?" Laney raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Well um…heh! You see I…"

But just as Kin was about to explain, the caveman came up to him and shook his hand rapidly.

"Good to see you again old pal! Boy, it sure has been a long time, hasn't it? I haven't seen you for this many minutes!" he held up five fingers. "And I see you've brought some new friends too! Hi! I'm Scooter! Who are you?"

The others didn't say anything, so Jackie stepped forward and cleared her throat.

"Um, it's a pleasure to meet you Scooter. Uh, I'm Jackie and this is Corey, Laney, and Kon."

"Jackie, eh? Oh yeah! Kin told me all about you! When we first met, he kept going on and on about how beautiful you looked! To tell the truth, you're a lot prettier than he described!"

"What?" Jackie blushed.

Kin covered Scooter's mouth and chuckled nervously.

"Heh, heh! Don't mind Scooter, Jackie! He's always coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas! Heh, heh, heh!"

Scooter pulled Kin's hand off of his mouth.

"Hey! That reminds me! I have to introduce you all to Bill!" the stubby man looked the other way. "Hey Bill! Kin's back and he brought some new friends! Bill? Where are you buddy? Oh Bill!"

They all heard a loud scream coming from the other side of the jungle.

"Ah! Here he comes now!"

Then suddenly, another caveman came out of the bushes, shrieking in terror. His appearance was the exact opposite of Scooter's. He was tall and skinny and he had a full head of red hair that matched his beard. Like Scooter, he was also wearing shoes and animal skin (although his was blue). When he made it to the shorter caveman, he paused to catch his breath.

"Hey Bill! Guess what? Our old buddy Kin came back from the future! And he-"

Bill didn't let Scooter finish, however, and he forcefully picked him up by his clothes.

"Scooter you doofus! I don't have time for happy reunions! There's a hideous Jungle Slug after me and it wants to chew on my face!"

"What's a Jungle Slug?" Laney wondered.

As if on cue, a giant tongue appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Bill.

"…When does the hurting stop?" he mumbled before getting pulled into the mouth of a huge pink slug with black spots.

Jackie and Grojband gasped horrifically.

"Hello Mr. Jungle Slug!" Scooter greeted. "Have you met Kin's friends?"

The Jungle Slug just smiled and licked its lips, like it had just found its second meal.

Jackie and the gang screamed and sprinted in the opposite direction. The Jungle Slug slowly slithered after them.

"Okay! Nice talking to you! See you later!" Scooter waved naively.

The kids ran as fast as they could to get away from the hungry invertebrate, but it was still in pursuit. The slug shot out its long, stretchy tongue and wrapped it around Kon's foot, causing him to trip.

"AAGH!" Kon yelped. "No! Please don't eat me! I'm sorry I squished so many of your relatives when I was three! If you let me live, I promise I'll never step on one again!"

The others rushed over and pulled Kon out of the slug's grip. Jackie spotted a cave up ahead.

"Quick! In there!"

They all dove inside the cave with lightning speed and fortunately for them, the slug didn't notice and slithered right past it.

Once it was safe, everyone came out of hiding.

"Phew…" they sighed.

"Let's hope we don't run into one of those things again." Jackie wished.

"Well if we do, we can get away from im!" Corey claimed. "Easy-peasy lemon squeezy!"

Kin scratched his head and began to think.

"Hm…wait a second…it's all coming back to me now…the whole reason I came to this place had something to do with lemons…but what was it? Hm…" he gasped. "Oh no…oh no! This is not good!"

"Kin? What's the matter?" Jackie asked.

"Guys! We have to get out of here! Right now!"

"Fine by me!" Kon grabbed on to his slime-covered shoe.

"Good idea Kin. I think we've all had enough excitement in this time period, running from that Jungle Slug and all." Jackie noted.

"Oh Jackie! The Jungle Slug's not even the worst part about this place!" Kin panicked.

"Huh?" Kon was confused.

"Then what is Kin?" Corey wondered.

"Shh!" Kin covered his leader's mouth and looked behind him. "I'll tell you when we get back home! But for now, we gotta leave before 'they' show up!"

"Who's they?"

Then suddenly, the ground started shaking and the gang heard giant footsteps.

"Is that an earthquake?" Kon shuddered.

Kin shrieked and jumped into Jackie's arms. "No! It's ten times worse! It's them! They're here! Jackie! Please save me from those vicious Thunderlizards!"

"What in the world is a Thunderlizard, Kin?"

Kin slowly pointed outside the cave.

"S-S-See for yourself…" his teeth chattered in fear.

Jackie dropped Kin on the ground carelessly and stuck her head out the cave entrance. As soon as she looked up to see what Kin was so worried about, her jaw dropped in awe and horror. For standing right beside the cave were three huge, fierce, and terrible-looking dinosaurs dressed in some sort of commando uniform. The others came out to join the manager and they too, dropped their jaws.

"I don't see that pesky little human child around here either Doc!" the dinosaur with a spiked head said. "We've looked everywhere!"

"Yeah man! He's probably found his way out of the jungle by now!" the tall one with a skull bandana added. "At this rate, we'll never find him!"

"Not to mention those other two disgusting mankinds are still on the loose! How are we supposed to catch them?"

"Fear not gentlesaurs." the leader reassured his companions in his deep voice. "It's only a matter of time before the little human in glasses crosses our path. When he does, we will surround him on all sides, take back Dr. Steggy's prized lemon plant, and disintegrate him with our bee grenades. Then once the plant is safely returned to Jurassic City, we shall continue our original mission of hunting down the other humans."

"Sounds like a good plan to me, Doc!" the tall dino commented. "And once we're done with those pesky humans, maybe Dr. Steggy will reward us with that new tasty beverage he's been working on! Uh, what's it called again, Kutter?"

"Well Squatt, I think he called it lemonade." the spikey-headed lizard answered.

"Yes." the one known as Doc nodded. "That is why we must retrieve the plant from that little boy in glasses. For without the sour, juicy lemons of the lemon plant, the lemonade concoction will remain incomplete. We move now."

"Boy, I can hardly wait to see how that kid's lemon-shaped head will look when we pin it on the wall, man!" Squatt chuckled.

Laney gave Kin an angry glare.

"You stole a lemon plant from a bunch of carnivorous, blood-thirsty, warlike dinosaurs?!" she whispered fiercely.

"I wanted to give it to Jackie as a gift." Kin explained. "She loves lemonade. I figured the two of us could use the plant's lemons to make some of our own. Just imagine. I'd measure the water, she'd measure the sugar. I'd cut the lemons in half, she would take those halves and twist them through the juicer. Then I would 'accidentally' put my hand on top of hers while she's twisting. But she wouldn't mind and then we'd start twisting together. That would be so romantic…like squeezing the juice of our love…"

Laney was mad.

"I'm gonna squeeze the juice from your head if you don't get us out of here right now!" she threatened while picking him up by the collar.

"Okay, okay!" Kin pleaded while taking out his time laser. "Calm down! I'll take care of it!"

But as Kin pushed some buttons on his invention, a tiny spider came down from the cave ceiling and rested all eight of its legs on the scientist's nose.

"Just let me enter the right coordinates and I'll have us back in the present time faster than you can say…" he looked down at his nose. "AAA! Spider!"

The nerdy boy jumped so high that the Lifetime Laser fell out of his hands, slid out of the cave, and hit Squatt's tail.

"Huh?" he picked it up. "What's this thing?"

The one known as Kutter looked inside the cave and everybody except Kin ran out of his sight.

"Well, looky what we got here!" the dino gave a sinister smile as he reached into the cave.

Kin was about to run and hide with his friends, but Kutter had already grabbed ahold of him and pulled him outside.

"Hey good news guys! I found our little lemon thief!"

"And I got his little squirt gun, man!" Squatt waved the time laser back and forth.

"Excellent work guys." Doc took Kin from Kutter. "Dr. Steggy will be most pleased."

Squatt pulled out a strange-looking weapon. "Can we blast em with bees now Doc? Huh? Huh? Can we?"

"No! Not the bees!" Kin shrieked. "Anything but the bees!"

"Wait! First, we must retrieve the lemon plant." Doc clarified. "So give it to us now, pipsqueak!" he poked Kin's nose.

"Uh…I…"

"You heard the man! Fork it over four-eyes!" Kutter commanded.

"I…I can't! I don't have it anymore!"

"Lies will get you nowhere small fry." Doc threatened as Kutter and Squatt aimed their weapons at Kin's face.

"I'm telling you the truth! It's not with me! It's back in my time period sitting on the coffee table in the garage, I swear!" Kin sobbed. "That thing you're holding is my time laser! If you let me go and give it back to me, I'll go back home and get the plant for you! Only please don't hurt me! Please!"

"I don't trust this kid Doc!" Kutter stated. "Everybody knows that you can never trust someone of an inferior species!"

"Yeah, man! He's probably just gonna go back to his own time period and keep the lemon plant for himself! I say we blast im and let the archaeologist sort im out!"

"Eek!" Kin wailed.

"Wait. I have a much better idea." Doc took the Lifetime Laser from Squatt. "We shall use this tiny time device to make an even bigger time device of our own. Then we will go forward in time, find the lemon plant, and come back here to return it to its rightful owner."

"Then can we blast this little human punk to smithereens?" Squatt hoped.

"Of course, Squatt. You know us Thunderlizards never pardon a thief. Especially not a human thief."

Kin shivered and gulped.

"Now let us return to the Jurassic Center for Global Studies and Scientific Research, boys. We have much work to do."

"Thunderlizards rule!" all three shouted before stomping away in the opposite direction.

The Jungle Slug from before noticed the scaly reptiles heading its way, so it spit Bill out and hid in the bushes. Bill was about to get up and hide himself but it was too late and he was squashed by all three of the dinos.

"When? When does the hurting stop?"

The other four teens came out of the cave once the coast was clear.

"Oh no!" Jackie worried. "They've got Kin! We have to save him!"

"Why?" Laney was still mad. "He's the one who got us into this mess! It serves him right!"

"True, but he's also the only one who can get us out of this mess! And without the Lifetime Laser, we can't get home! C'mon! Let's follow those lizards!"

"Ugh, fine…" Laney groaned. "But don't think I'm doing this for Kin!"

And then they all followed the dinos back to their home town.

**LANEY'S IN A CRABBY MOOD!**

After an extremely long walk, the four finally made it to the Thunderlizards' place of residence: Jurassic City. It was a place that looked almost exactly like Tranquil Town, except to everyone's surprise, it was far more advanced and far more populated. The town was filled with a ton of futuristic-looking buildings, bright lights, and cars driving all over a crowded highway. There were plenty of dinosaurs there too and all of them were dressed and acting like humans. The entire scenery was enough to make Jackie and the band feel like little specks that could get squashed by a stegosaurus's foot at any moment, but they decided to go in anyway. As they were walking, Jackie spoke up.

"Wow, they talked a lot about the prehistoric ages in history class, but they never said anything about dinosaurs living in a cutting-edge society."

"Guess the secret died with these guys." Corey theorized. "Now, what are we trying to find again?"

"Some place called the Jurassic Center for Global Studies and Scientific Research?" Laney recalled.

"Ugh…this is gonna take forever…it's too much walking…why can't we take a bus or something?" Kon whined before collapsing face-first into the ground.

The drummer then sat up and noticed a velociraptor with a newspaper in his hands walking right past him. Every step the giant carnivore took, his tail dragged along behind him, without having to lift itself up. This was enough to give Kon an idea.

"Hey guys!" he called his friends over. "Check this out!"

The fat kid got a running start and then he jumped onto the velociraptor's tail without him noticing. The others were incredibly surprised by this.

"C'mon! We can get to the science center thingy a lot faster this way! Hop on!"

Jackie, Corey, and Laney exchanged glances and figuring they didn't have a lot to lose, jumped onto the tail with Kon. Jackie sat up and felt the wind flowing through her hair.

"Wow, this feels a lot better than walking!" she noted. "Great idea, Kon! There's no stopping us now!"

"Woohoo!"

"All right! Way to go!"

But as soon as the young adolescents started celebrating their victory, the velociraptor heard their tiny voices and spotted them on his tail.

"Eww…bugs." he pressed down on the tip of his tail and then…

**FLUNG!**

The kids went flying up into the sky and over the entire city. All of them screamed and held onto each other as they hit a cloud, plummeted back to earth, and landed smack in the middle of a window.

Jackie groaned and rubbed her head.

"On second thought, maybe it wasn't such a good idea…"

"Sure it was! Look!" Kon pointed upward at a sign that read 'Jurassic Center for Global Studies and Scientific Research'.

"Wow…" everyone else said simultaneously

"I told you guys I was a genius." Kon bragged.

After everyone recovered from their flight, they all snuck inside the building and began to look for Kin and the Thunderlizards. There were dinosaurs in lab coats everywhere, but luckily, none of them saw our faithful heroes slip by them because they were too small to notice. Finally, after a bit of searching, the gang found a room labeled "Top Secret Laboratory-Do Not Enter Unless Authorized".

"Top secret?" Kon scoffed. "It's not secret if you tell them where it is!"

"Shh!" Jackie whispered. "C'mon! Let's go inside!"

The brunette pushed on the giant door with all her might and the others helped her. They couldn't get it open all the way, but it was open enough for them to hear and see what was going on. The first thing they saw was a huge time machine that the Thunderlizards were working on standing in the middle of the room. Doc was making some adjustments with a wrench and Kutter and Squatt were looking at the blueprints. Jackie looked up and spotted Kin stuck to the wall with giant sticky tape. She gasped.

"There he is!" she exclaimed quietly. "Let's grab him and the Lifetime Laser and get outta here!"

The manager was about to step into the room, but the others held her back when they heard the Thunderlizards talking.

"Gee Kutter, this time machine thing turned out to be a piece of cake! It only took us twenty minutes to finish!" Squatt claimed. "For some reason I thought we would be here for days!"

"Of course not Squatt, we're the Terrible Thunderlizards! Nobody's smarter than us!"

"Ha! You hear that, you little shrimp?" Squatt poked Kin in the nose. "We're smarter than you! We finished our time machine in twenty minutes! How long did it take for you to finish yours?"

Kin gulped. "Um…a couple of days I guess…"

Squatt turned to Kutter. "Uh, say Kutter? Is a couple of days longer than twenty minutes?"

Kutter sighed. "Yes Squatt. It is."

"Ha! Told you we were smarter!" Squatt boasted.

"Guys, enough fooling around." Doc ordered. "The time machine is not complete yet. We still need to add one more component to make its power even stronger. Hand me the human boy's time laser device."

Kutter handed the laser over to Doc and he plugged it into the machine. As soon as he did this, the machine turned on and a bright blue vortex appeared in the entrance.

"Whoa…" Jackie and Grojband were in awe.

"Wow, it's so pretty Doc!" Squatt observed.

"Yeah, a real work of art!" Kutter agreed.

"The time is now, boys. Let us go and find that lemon plant before it's too late." Doc turned to Kin. "You! Stay right there and don't move. We'll be back."

Doc and Kutter entered the time vortex as Squatt looked back at Kin. "Yeah! And when we do come back, we're gonna blast you to bits, man! Ha, ha, ha! You're gonna get it good, man! We're coming for you! You're in for it! You're-" the allosaurus was then pulled into the vortex by Kutter and then all three of them were gone.

When the coast was clear, Jackie, Corey, Laney, and Kon came out of their hiding spots, climbed up a big table that was below Kin, and set him free.

"Kin, are you okay?" Jackie asked concerned.

"Did those dinosaurs hurt you?" Laney was also worried for some reason.

"No." Kin shook his head. "They didn't. I'm fine."

"Good." Laney sighed with relief, but then she punched Kin in the arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"For almost getting us killed by giant prehistoric reptiles!"

"Guys! Look!" Jackie pointed ahead. "The vortex is still open! Quick! Let's get back to our own time and stop those dinos before they cause a whole heap of trouble!"

"How much trouble is that, Jackie?" Kon inquired.

"Let's just say…I've seen Godzilla…and if one terrifying monster can do that much damage to a big city, imagine what three of them can do to a small town! Let's go!"

And so they all made a run for the time machine, jumped into the vortex, and headed home. Well, all except one. Kin got distracted when he saw his beloved Lifetime Laser plugged into the time machine. He ran over to it and pulled it out.

"It's okay baby. I would never leave you behind. You know you're one of daddy's favorite inventions."

Laney poked her head out of the vortex and forcefully pulled Kin inside.

When the group made it back to Tranquil Town, things were already looking rough. Cars were crushed and on fire, people were running and screaming everywhere, and most of the buildings were either broken in half or reduced to a pile of dust. The five friends looked up and saw the Thunderlizards causing a ton of destruction.

Doc lifted up a building and scared away all the people inside it.

"Did you find the plant yet boys?"

Kutter picked up a few cars and tossed them aside.

"Not yet Doc! Haven't found anything except a bunch of puny humans!" Kutter used his sharp teeth to bite off the front of a car. Then he threw it behind him and it crashed.

"But how is that possible, man?" Squatt panicked. "Humans aren't supposed to exist in the future! We would have em wiped out by now! What happened man? What went wrong?!"

"Calm down Squatt." Doc told him. "There is a simple explanation. When the human boy stole Jurassic City's only lemon plant, it must have caused a drastic change in our future. Without the plant, we dinosaurs will be unable to cultivate and our species will cease to exist, allowing the humans to take over."

"No Doc! It can't be!" Kutter worried.

"I'm afraid so guys. But do not fear. All we have to do is find the lemon plant and dinosaur-kind will be saved from the mankind rebellion." Doc beamed. "Wait! I just remembered! The boy in glasses said something about the plant sitting on a coffee table in a garage. And I just remembered that I saw a garage when we first got here. Follow me!"

"They're heading right for our house!" Jackie cried. "Kin! Use your time thingy to zap em back to the past!"

Kin fired a laser at the scaly, green brutes, but unfortunately, it just bounced off of Squatt's tail and disappeared. He tried it a few more times, but the same thing happened over and over again.

"It's not working! I can't send them back if they keep moving around like that! The only way the Lifetime Laser will work on them is if we can get them to hold still!"

"Hold still?" Laney scoffed. "Yeah right! They're never gonna hold still! At least not until they get their hands on that lemon plant you stole from them! But by the time they find it, our house will be in ruins!"

Corey scratched his chin and then a lightbulb appeared over his head.

"I've got it!" he cried. "Maybe if we sing those destructive dinos a really loud and distracting song, they'll stand still long enough for us to zap em with Kin's time laser and Tranquil Town will be saved!"

"Singing a song is your answer to everything, Core." Laney rolled her eyes. "You always come up with the same crazy plans."

"But this one might be crazy enough to work!" Jackie pointed out optimistically. "The only problem is, how are we going to get lyrics from Tracy's diary this time?"

"Easy! We just need to give those big mean lizards a sign…" Corey said dramatically.

**VOLCANO TRANSITION!**

One transition later, the band finished making multiple signs to lead the Thunderlizards to their house. Every sign contained a picture of the lemon plant along with a big red arrow pointing in a certain direction. Kon put one of the signs down on the sidewalk and whistled to get Squatt's attention. When Squatt looked down, the drummer ran back to where the others were hiding and they all watched the scene play out.

"Hey guys! Check it out!"

Kutter and Doc rushed back over.

"What is it Squatt?"

"This sign says that the lemon plant is right this way, man!" he looked ahead. "And look! There're even more signs thataway!"

"We're getting close boys! Let's keep going!"

And so, the three of them followed the signs right out of the city and they continued to follow them until they reached Jackie's house.

At the moment, Tracy was sitting in her room with Macy, hugging a picture of Rick Salary to her heart.

"Sigh…I gotta say Macy…this is my absolute favorite picture of Rick…"

"But, I thought all of your Rick pictures were your favorites."

"This is my favoritest favorite or whatever! It's practically irreplaceable…"

"Looks like the trail ends here Doc!" Kutter observed. "Look! Only one sign left!"

Doc reached down and picked up the sign.

"Yes. And there appears to be some kind of poem written on it." he began to read. "'In this house, below where you stand, you'll find your plant in a teenager's hand. And if at first you cannot see, look under the picture of Rick Salary.'"

"Who's that, Doc?" Kutter scratched his head. "Some kind of human overlord?"

"We shall find out soon enough, Kutter." Doc removed the roof of the house and spotted Tracy and Macy in Tracy's room. Macy gave a terrified shriek and hid under the bed.

"Hey! Like, what's the big idea?!" Tracy yelled.

Kutter noticed the picture frame sitting in her hands.

"Doc! There it is! The picture of the human overlord!"

Squatt snatched the photo away from the spoiled teen and took a look under it.

"I can't see the lemon plant under this thing guys!"

"Of course not Squatt. The humans are trying to trick us. They want us to think they hid the plant under the picture frame, but they really hid it under the picture!"

And with that, the leader used his talon to rip a hole right through Rick's picture. Tracy gave a horrified gasp.

"Let me help you out there Doc!" Kutter took the photo and ripped it in half.

Tracy scowled and she clenched her fists in anger.

"Man, they must have shrunk the plant down to microscopic size to fit it in this thing!" Squatt used his claws to shred the rest of the photo and the pieces landed in front of a very angry Tracy. It was at that moment that Doc figured everything out.

"No Squatt, don't you see? The plant is not here! The humans have tricked us! They wanted us to come here!"

"Yeah, but why Doc?" Kutter questioned.

"Grr!"

The Thunderlizards looked down and were surprised to see Tracy turning deep red.

"How dare you break into my house! How dare you destroy my dreamboat! Go back to the Jurassic period WHERE YOU BELONG!"

A huge fire surrounded Tracy as she sprinted into her Angry Diary Mode. This time, she was surrounded by dinosaur fossils and picture frames. She summoned her diary and began writing. The Thunderlizards had looks of terror on their faces as lightning struck from the sky. Tracy held out her flaming pen as soon as she finished writing, and when the flame burned out, she returned to normal and fell to the ground. Her diary landed in Corey's hand.

"Hey Thunderlizards!" he called out.

The three dinosaurs looked down and saw Corey and the band with their instruments.

"Hope you're ready, cause we're gonna rock you back to the stone ages!"

The band started playing which left the Thunderlizards confused.

"What are they doing?" Kutter wondered.

"It appears they are playing a song of some sorts." Doc commented. "Maybe music is their way of fighting back."

"I don't see how." Squatt snapped his fingers. "It's kinda catchy!"

_Corey: I've had enough of you ugly beasts_

_You've made me mad to say the least_

_I want you gone, far away from here_

_So take your sorry tails and disappear_

_No more!_

_ Laney, Kin, and Kon: No more!_

_ Corey: No more!_

_ Laney, Kin, and Kon: No more!_

_ Corey: I'm sick of you big, smelly dinosaurs_

_No more!_

_ Laney, Kin, and Kon: No more!_

_ Corey: No more!_

_ Laney, Kin, and Kon: No more!_

_ Corey: You broke my heart now I'm gonna break yours_

_(guitar solo)_

_Ow!_

_Disturbing me was a big mistake_

_Your noise has given me a headache_

_You'll all be fossils before you can blink_

_Who'd think it was me that made you go extinct?_

_No more!_

_ Laney, Kin, and Kon: No more!_

_ Corey: No more!_

_ Laney, Kin, and Kon: No more!_

_ Corey: I'm sick of you big, smelly dinosaurs_

_No more!_

_ Laney, Kin, and Kon: No more!_

_ Corey: No more!_

_ Laney, Kin, and Kon: No more!_

_ Corey: You had better get lost before…_

_All: I roar!_

The Thunderlizards stood still and blinked. Then Kutter chuckled.

"Seriously? You really think some childish song is gonna stop us from turning your town upside-down?"

"Nope!" Corey pointed behind them. "But this is!"

The trio turned around and gasped when they saw Jackie holding Kin's invention.

**ZAP!**

The 14-year-old pushed the trigger and a laser hit all three of the Thunderlizards.

"NOOOOOOOO!" they squealed in defeat and then they disappeared.

"Yes!" Jackie fist-pumped. "Nice job you guys! You've proven once again that music always wins!"

"Yeah. It's just too bad that the roof of our house is gone." Kon noticed the remains of the roof lying on the sidewalk.

"Meh." Jackie shrugged. "It'll be fully repaired by the time Chapter 64 goes up."

"Well gang, I guess we learned a lesson today, huh?" a spotlight shined on Corey. "The past is definitely something that should be left alone. You may make a huge mistake today and want to go back in time to try and fix it. But most likely, you'll probably just make an even huger mistake than before and the next thing you know, three vicious dinosaurs will be destroying your home town! It's better if we leave the past in the past and look towards the future instead. After all, there's no telling what'll happen then!"

The spotlight disappeared.

"You know what Corey? You're right." Kin tossed the Lifetime Laser. "I've had enough of time traveling anyway. Hey! I just remembered! The Thunderlizards never took back their plant! Now I can finally make that victory lemonade I promised you guys a year ago!"

"Yay!" Jackie, Corey, and Kon cheered. Laney, however, just folded her arms and gave Kin a look of disbelief.

"See Laney?" Kin smiled nervously. "Everything worked out in the end. The Thunderlizards are gone, we survived their reign of terror, and I'm never going to use the Lifetime Laser again. So, what do you say? No hard feelings, right?"

"Yeah. Sure Kin." Laney picked up the Lifetime Laser and aimed it at herself. "No hard feelings."

The red-head pulled the trigger and zapped herself away. When she returned a split second later, Kin was horrified to see that she hadn't come back alone. For standing behind her was the terrible, hideous, and slimy creature that tried to eat the band earlier. The creature known as the Jungle Slug.

"At least no hard feelings for me…" Laney glared.

The Jungle Slug licked its lips and wrapped its tongue around Kin.

"…When does the hurting stop?" Kin asked in a melancholic tone as the slug slurped him up.

But before the gastropod had a chance to swallow the poor keyboardist, he pried open its mouth and made a run for it. The slug saw him trying to get away and chased after him.

"No! Please! Stop! I'm too young to go like this! I've learned my lesson! Honest I have! Somebody get me a tub of salt!"

Corey shrugged. "Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**33 original scenarios left! 23 slots available!**

**Again, really sorry for making you guys wait so long for this. Just a heads up, I'm not going to start writing the next chapter until probably next week because tomorrow's the day I leave for Disney World! I am super excited and I can't wait! But I wanted to give you guys one more chapter before I leave so I don't get a lot of complaints in the review section for the next couple of days. Also, let me know if you want me to bring the Thunderlizards back for another chapter because there are some characters from the show that I didn't put in. And if you do want a sequel to this chapter, make sure to tell me your ideas on what it should be about in your reviews (note: If there are multiple requests, I will only use the first one I receive)! Thanks for being so patient guys and I'll see you next time!**


	64. Siren-Nara

**OMG guys! I am so sorry to have kept you all waiting for this new chapter so long! School has been an absolute pain and I was so busy last week that I didn't have any time to sit down and write this up. The good news is I'm on spring break right now so I finally found time to finish it and I should have more time to write up a couple more chapters before this weekend. Anyway, this chapter is based on a scenario given to me by cristina correa and she said:**

**"Another orignial story of mine is a sequel to the siren chapter you wrote long ago. The siren wants revenge from the girls of grojband and the newmans that ruined her voice. By doing that, she turned all girls and women in the town into sea creatures. What do you think? I understand if you're busy."**

**The chapter is also somewhat based around a scenario from Skilletlover429:**

**"I love this. Maybe do one were they become animals"**

**Originally I was going to do a separate chapter for this one but then I decided that the scenario after this one needed to be in two parts so unfortunately, I had to drop this request to make room for other ones. I am very sorry Skilletlover429. This most likely isn't exactly what you wanted but I hope you enjoy it otherwise. If there are spots available, I will try to do your request in a future chapter. But for now, this is kind of all you get. Again, I am sorry and I hope you will continue reading!**

**Okay I think that's all I have to say for now. Hope you like Chapter 64.**

**WARNING: This is my longest written chapter yet. It's over 8,000 words! Make sure you have time to read it all ;)!**

* * *

**Chapter 64**

**Siren-Nara**

_*Previously on Meeting Grojband*_

"No…NOOOO!" Malady got on her knees and pounded her fists on the ground. Then she got back up and gave Grojband a scowl before creating a portal with her left hand. "You can't keep me quiet forever! Sooner or later I'll have my voice back and sooner or later I'll come back to wreak my revenge on all of you!"

She got in Jackie's face.

"Especially you, you nosy nuisance! You hapless pest! You…you…you!"

It was Kin's turn to get in Malady's face.

"That's enough!" he shouted. "Listen up Little Miss Vocal Chords! Your time in Tranquil Town is finished! It's over! You lost and we won! And you know why? Because our music inspires people to unite as a whole while yours just forces people to do what you say! Sure, you may have gotten a few men on your side, but only until your voice gave out and left you all alone again! Let me tell you something sweet cheeks, music isn't supposed to control people, it's the people who control the music! Got it?! Now why don't you just go back to where you came from and stay there?! But most importantly, don't you ever, ever, EVER insult my favorite manager AGAIN!"

The last word was so loud that it startled Malady and she tumbled into the portal, sending her back to her own world.

That was what happened months ago. That was the exact same text you all read in Chapter 37: Sound the Siren. And it was also the exact same text that Malady was currently reading over and over again on the monitor in her secret lair. She had just finished reading it for the 300th time, as a matter of fact. I know, right? She must have a lot of time on her hands if she can read 231 words 300 times in a row.

Okay, to tell the truth, she didn't read all of the words over and over again. Actually, she was only re-reading the words that Kin had spoken to her right before she was evicted from Tranquil Town for attempting to make all of the male citizens her slaves. Why was she doing this, you ask? Well, to put it bluntly, it was because Kin's words were very surprising and confusing to Malady. They were words of power, strength, and superiority. Words that the selfish siren had never, ever, EVER heard before in her one thousand years of existence. This was mainly because she had always been the one who held all of the power and superiority and nobody dared to prove themselves better than her. But that changed when she came to Tranquil Town. Because once Jackie and Laney took her powerful voice away, Kin was able to stand up to her and make himself the first male to ever speak out against her.

This experience made Malady feel different. Like she had been using her powers for the wrong reasons. She was very confused, so confused that she started to sing.

_What have I done, my love?_

_I've lived my whole life the wrong way_

_It's just no fun my love_

_To hear those harsh words that you say_

_My heart is starting to decay_

_So I've made a few mistakes_

_Are you saying I can't change?_

_Oh my dear sweet little darling_

_Why must you make me deranged?_

_Oh I want to say I'm sorry_

_But you'll just give me a shove_

_I've got a horrible case_

_Of forbidden love_

"Such a handsome demeanor…why did I not see it before?"

_We live in different worlds_

_But we don't have to be apart_

_Who would have thought a guy like you_

_Could change this poor siren's heart?_

_And now I'm ready to restart_

_Building an army's not the answer_

_That I've been longing to find_

_My evil tendencies are gone dear_

_Out of sight and out of mind_

_Oh I want to soar like an eagle_

_But right now I'm just a dove_

_That's because I have a case_

_Of forbidden love_

_My feelings I embrace_

_How I long to see your face_

_Right next to mine_

_And maybe someday soon_

_We will kiss under the moon_

_While all the stars align_

_And how they will all shine_

_Then after that, we'll have our chance_

_To have a tender moonlight dance_

_Why? Just because_

_And if you offer me a rose_

_I'll pat your cheeks and poke your nose_

_The very same way that…*gasps*_

_She does…_

At that point, Malady began to recall how she was defeated in Tranquil Town a few months back. She remembered how Jackie had used the power of music against her to take away not only her army of men, but her powerful and beautiful voice as well. It was then Malady realized that Jackie had taken a third thing from her when she and Laney sang their song of inspiration. A thing she never really wanted before, but desperately wanted now.

"…You're the reason I can't have him…" she mumbled to herself and then she continued singing.

_It's very clear now_

_I think I finally understand_

_It's you who keeps us both apart_

_You and that awful band_

_That's far too bland_

_I just don't get it_

_Why is he in love with you?_

_I would say it's because you're beautiful_

_But I'm beautiful too_

_Clearly something must be done_

_To keep you from my honey bun_

_So he can finally see the beauty that's inside me_

_Just a moment, let me think_

_I'll have a plan by the time you blink_

_Wait a minute…now I know!_

_I'll make all women ugly!_

_Yes, that is what I'll do_

_I'll turn them scaly, maybe blue_

_And as an added touch I'll give them all a tail _

_You think I'm maladjusted_

_But the men will be disgusted_

_Now believe me, it's a plan that cannot fail_

_Because once that girl is ghastly_

_My love will find me so steadfastly_

_And then our hearts will float like clouds up above_

_At last the time has come for me to cure_

_My forbidden…_

_LOVE!_

The siren used her magic powers to create a portal.

"Kin Kujira, you will be mine!"

And so the blonde-haired woman stepped inside the portal and traveled back to Tranquil Town so she could find Kin.

Speaking of which, you're probably wondering what our favorite nerdy scientist/keyboardist (as well as the other members of Grojband) was doing at the moment. The short answer: he was in the bathroom. The long answer: he was in the bathroom, but not because he needed to do his business. Rather because he wanted to privately admire his favorite picture of Jackie (who else?) before band practice. The geeky kid in glasses sat down on the toilet seat cover, hugged his photo to his chest and giggled.

"Oh Jackie…I feel like I'm the luckiest boy alive to have a manager as wonderful as you. Just look at you. Your silky smooth hair, your gorgeous brown eyes, your soft, shiny skin, your-"

"Kin!" Corey called from outside the bathroom door.

"What are you doing in there?! Hurry up! We gotta practice for our gig at the award show for Jackie's school and we can't rehearse without a keyboard player!"

"Yeah bro! What's taking so long?" Kon complained.

"We need you to play with us sometime this century!" Laney added.

Kin ignored them.

"Don't mind them Jackie. They're just trying to separate us because they don't understand how much we love each other…"

"Dude! Are you talking to that picture of Jackie again?" Kon yelled.

"No! Mind your own business!"

"You know she doesn't love you, right?"

"Shut up! She does too!" Kin caressed 'Jackie's' cheek. "Don't you Jackie? Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Kin, c'mon! Let's go! You can fantasize about Jackie later!" Corey insisted.

"Hey, where is Jackie, anyway?" Laney asked. "She was supposed to be here ten minutes ago and she's never late."

"Relax Lanes!" Corey reassured the bassist. "Everything's perfectly fine! Jackie's just getting ready for the award show tonight! Apparently she got nominated for the 'True Beauty' award or something. My guess is she's putting on makeup."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Jackie wears makeup?" Kon was dumbfounded.

"She is a girl." Laney pointed out.

"And she's gonna be the prettiest girl in the whole show! With all that makeup on, there's no way she can't win!"

"Now Core, true beauty isn't about how good you look." Laney lectured. "It's about how you act as a person. It's about how much goodness is inside your heart and how you use that goodness to help other people when they need it. But the one thing that has absolutely nothing to do with being beautiful is makeup!"

"Oh yeah?" Kon chuckled. "Then how come you wear it everyday?"

"Hey! Why don't you just…actually, I never really thought about that until now."

Meanwhile, upstairs in Jackie's room, Jackie was just about done freshening up for her big night. She put on one last bit of blush and smiled in the mirror.

"There! Perfect!" she stood up and twirled her sparkling blue dress. "I can hardly wait to go to the award show! This is gonna be the best night of my life!"

But little did the innocent teen know that standing outside her bedroom door was her evil sister, Tracy. And she was up to no good. Again.

"Hee, hee, hee! So, that frump of a sister of mine thinks she's going to win the True Beauty award! Well, not if she's going up against me! Tracy 'Hot-Stuff' Matthews! That award is totes mine!"

"But Tracy," Macy muttered to her best friend. "You didn't get nominated for the True Beauty award."

"Well I would have if _she_ hadn't shown up into the picture! Luckily, all that is about to change. We're gonna make sure Jackie doesn't win that award!"

"Um, how?"

"Here's what we're gonna do. Tonight at the award show, we're gonna hide backstage and wait for Mayor Swellow to give Jackie the award or whatever. Then, when I give you the signal, you'll pour this bucket of mustard all over the little twerp!" Tracy handed her BFF a bucket. "Once her hair, outfit, and everything becomes all sticky and gross, the mayor will disqualify her for sure! Enter moi, looking all perfect and bedazzled and junk! The audience will stare at me in awe, Swellow will compliment me on my beauty, and then he'll give me the True Beauty award instead! Everybody in the school will adore me! And even better, Jackie's reputation will be ruined!" Tracy gasped. "Maybe she'll even cry! Hee, hee! Oh it's too wonderful to even imagine!"

The wicked teen giggled in delight.

Meanwhile in another part of town, a portal appeared out of thin air and Malady stepped out of it.

"At last! I thought I would never escape that warty old troll from the gnome dimension! But now's not the time for petty complaining. I came here for one reason, and one reason only!"

The siren flew up into the sky and looked around the city. She spotted a couple sitting at a table outside of a café. They were holding hands and smiling at each other.

"If only the world knew just how perfect you really are." the man said, lifting up the woman's chin. "Your sparkling eyes, your luscious lips, your silky hair…"

Malady smiled and lifted up her finger. A magical wave surrounded her fingertip as she began to cast a spell on the woman. She pointed her finger downward and zapped her with her evil magic. This made the woman turn into a fish. The man hadn't noticed yet.

"Why I can't remember the last time I saw anything more…" he opened his eyes and screamed at how hideous his girlfriend looked. The girl looked in a mirror and screamed at her reflection. Then the two of them fainted. Malady chuckled and she started transforming a few more women into hideous sea creatures. As soon as their boyfriends saw them, they freaked out and ran away. Malady couldn't help but laugh at them all.

"Hee, hee! I've heard of walking out on somebody, but never running away from them!" she joked. "Better look out Tranquil Town, cause this siren is back and ready to break everybody up! Nobody in this town will love again!"

She took out a picture of Kin.

"Except for the two of us my darling…" the evil siren rubbed a finger under Kin's chin. "Don't worry, we'll be together soon. But first, it's time to play a little game of Eris… "

And with that, Malady started flying all over the city, changing every single woman she saw into a disgusting, scaly monster. She didn't stop until all of the girls in town were ugly and unlikeable. She also made sure that no man fell in love or stayed in love with any of them. Once she was done, the love in the innocent city was broken. Not only were the girls miserable, but the boys were as well. It was pure chaos everywhere. Something that Malady enjoyed very much.

"Yes! All according to plan!" she stared at Kin's picture. "And now, just one final stop."

Malady snapped her fingers and teleported to Jackie's house. She gave an evil cackle as she created a magic beam with her finger and flew toward the back window of the domicile where Jackie's room was.

"Well, that's enough vanity for one day!" the manager giggled. "Time to go rehearse with my favorite band!"

"She's coming!" Tracy whispered. "Hide!"

But before the two got a chance to run away, Malady zapped both of them, transforming them into groupers. Macy looked over at Tracy and shrieked in horror. She was so terrified that she threw the bucket of mustard into the air and it landed on her head. Tracy looked behind her and frowned.

"Macy! What are you doing? The mustard was supposed to go on Jackie's head! Not yours!"

Macy removed the bucket and wiped the mustard off her glasses. Her eyes widened when she saw Tracy.

"Ew! What have you done to yourself?" Tracy griped. "You look even uglier than usual!"

"Uh, Tracy?"

"I mean, seriously! Haven't you ever heard of moisturizer? I get that your job is to make me look good, but I don't want anybody to think my so-called best friend is as disgusting as a halibut!"

"But Tracy-"

Tracy snatched the bucket away from the red-head.

"Ugh! Like, never mind! What really matters is that you messed up my totally perfect-AAAAAA!" the dark-haired girl screamed when she looked at her reflection in the bucket. "My gorgeous face! It's gone! My beauty has been diminished! My looks, tarnished! I'm a monster!" she sobbed loudly.

"That's what I was trying to-"

"Macy! Why are you still talking? You have to help me get my fantastic good looks back! Makeup! I need makeup!"

And then the taller teen dragged the nerd in glasses away. Jackie stepped outside her room and looked around.

"Huh. That's funny. I thought I heard somebody out here."

Malady peeked through Jackie's window.

"And now to cast the meanest, baddest and ugliest spell of them all! I've been saving this one especially for you, my little urchin!"

Malady began to twirl her pointer finger around in circles, which built up a giant wave of magic. She continued to spin it until the magic aura turned a dark black color. Then, she pointed at Jackie and zapped her tremendously. The spell she cast turned Jackie into the ugliest, slimiest, most disgusting sea creature of them all. A blobfish.

The teen looked down and saw Tracy's bucket sitting on the floor. She picked it up.

"Hey, what's this bucket doing here?" she gasped when she saw her reflection and dropped the bucket on the ground. "What's that ugly thing in the reflection? I've never seen anything grosser than that before! Not even Tracy!" she paused. "Wait…is that…"

Jackie ran back into her room and looked in her mirror. The same creature she saw in the bucket was staring back at her. She slowly placed one of her slimy fins onto the glass and gasped in horror.

"That ugly thing…is…me!"

And with that, she let out a terrified scream that could be heard all the way from the garage.

"Ouch! That hurt my ears!" Kon held his head.

"What was that?" Laney wondered.

"I have no idea." Corey stated. "But it sounded like it came from Jackie's room! She might be in trouble! Grojband, move out!"

The three of them ran out of the garage just as Kin stepped out of the bathroom.

"Jackie's in trouble?!" he panicked. "Jackie! I'm coming!"

He was about to run out the same door the other three band members exited through, but all of a sudden, the door magically closed and he smacked right into it. Kin pulled his face out of the door and stars whirled around his head.

"But first, I think I'll take a little nap…" he said dazed and then he fainted.

Malady appeared in the room and stared lovingly at the unconscious scientist.

"Hello handsome…" she giggled evilly before dragging him out of the garage. She snapped her fingers and created another portal.

"Well, my work here is done. Looks like everybody got what they wanted. Oh wait. No, that's not right." she corrected herself. "What I meant to say was…I got what I wanted and nobody else did!" the villainess cackled. "Back to my secret lair with you, my little muffin…"

Then the blondie lifted Kin up by the arms, dragged him into the portal, and headed back to her own world.

**UGLY FISH TRANSITION!**

The rest of Grojband made it upstairs to Jackie's bedroom. They could hear loud sobs coming from the door. Corey knocked on it gently.

"Jacks! Are you in there? We heard you screaming from the garage and we just wanted to know if you're okay."

"Leave me alone!" they all heard from outside the door. "Nobody can see me like this!"

"Like what?" Corey opened the door and he and the others gasped in horror when they saw a giant blobfish sitting on Jackie's bed crying. Kon screamed.

"MONSTER!" he stretched his arm outside the door and grabbed a mace. "I'll take care of this one guys. What have you done with our manager, you slime-ball?!"

Jackie covered her face as Kon raised his weapon over her.

"Kon! Stop! It's me!"

Kon gasped. "I don't believe it! It sounds just like Jackie! Which means…it must have eaten her alive!"

"No Kon! I am J-" Jackie tried to say but Kon forced open her mouth.

"Jacks! Can you hear me down there? Don't worry! I'll get you out! Just as soon as I blast this abomination to bits!"

"Stop!" Jackie pleaded. "Guys, a monster didn't eat Jackie, because I'm Jackie!"

"Wha…?" Kon's mouth dropped open.

"Is it true Jacks? Is it really you?" Laney asked.

Jackie looked down in embarrassment. "Yeah…"

"Wow…" Corey scratched the back of his neck. "What happened to you? You look kind of…um…uh…"

"Ugly? Gross? Like an unsightly, repulsive, greasy, big-lipped, dry-scaled, disgusting excuse for an aquatic vertebrate?" Kon listed.

Jackie's eyes welled up with tears and she started bawling.

"Kon!" Corey and Laney scolded.

"I was just being honest…" Kon shrugged.

Laney patted her gal pal's gruesome back.

"Don't listen to him Jacks."

"Why not? He's right!" Jackie sniffled. "I am disgusting! There's no way I can go to the award ceremony looking like this! The whole school will be there! I'll be a laughing stock! Not to mention I'll never qualify for the True Beauty award, or any award for that matter! Not while my face is uglier than a Hawaiian shirt!"

"Wow, that is ugly." Kon noted.

Jackie continued crying and the band continued comforting her.

"But, I don't understand." Laney was confused. "How did you turn into this uh…thing anyway?"

"I don't know." Jackie whimpered. "I was fine right before I walked out the door, but when I looked into the mirror again, I looked like…well, this! I went from beautiful to butt-ugly in a matter of seconds! It was like magic or something!"

Corey scratched his chin. "Magic, eh? That's it!"

The boy rushed out of the room and quickly came back with a book in his hands. More specifically, Kin's mythology book.

"Jacks, I think I know who did this to you."

"You do?"

"Yeah! Cause I just remembered a little while back, Kin read me this book on mythical creatures and I found out a lot of cool stuff!"

"I thought you slept through the entire thing?" Laney recalled suspiciously.

"Not all of it!" Corey argued. "I stayed awake for the first chapter, didn't I?"

Laney just rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, Chapter 1 was all I really needed to hear because it's about creatures with magical abilities!And if I remember correctly, there's only one creature powerful enough to turn people into hideous sea creatures!" Corey flipped through the pages and showed the rest of the gang a picture of somebody familiar. Everyone gasped.

"It's a siren!" Jackie observed.

"Yep!" Corey nodded. "And as far as I know, there's only one siren that we've had an encounter with in the past…"

"Malady!" Laney growled. "I should have known she was behind this! She must be up to her old tricks again!"

"Yeah." Corey agreed. "But the question is, what diabolical plot is she planning this time? What kind of twisted thoughts were going through her head when she came up with this evil scheme? Why would she have a need to turn Jackie into an unsightly monster?!" he paused dramatically. "Welp, guess the readers are gonna find out before us, cause we're not in the next scene."

**WE'RE BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL AGAIN!**

Meanwhile, in Malady's secret lair, Kin was starting to regain consciousness. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he could hear a beautiful voice speaking to him.

"Kinny-darling…" it whispered. "Wake up…your lover is here…"

"Mm…Jackie? Oh you have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to-AAAA!" he shrieked when he saw Malady's face extremely close to his.

"Well! It's about time you came to, my luscious!"

"Malady?!" Kin wailed. "What are you doing here?!"

"This is my lair, you silly goose!" Malady pinched Kin's cheek and turned him into a goose.

"Eek!" Kin started scratching himself. "Hey! Turn me back! I'm allergic to goose feathers!"

"I'm just horsing around, gum-drop!" Malady snapped her fingers and turned Kin into a horse.

"Stop it!" Kin demanded. "This isn't funny!"

"Oh c'mon sugar lips! Don't be such a stick in the mud." she snapped her fingers again, turning Kin back to normal but also putting him in a huge mud puddle. The scientist started to sink and he screamed. Luckily, Malady pulled him out before his hair could touch the mud. Kin instinctively wrapped his arms around Malady's chest and shook with fear.

"Ooh, somebody's feeling a little antsy." Malady teased as she made ants come out of the mud puddle and fly onto Kin's back.

"Gah!" Kin fell out of Malady's arms. "Get em off! Get em off! Get em off!"

Malady giggled to herself as Kin panted heavily and stood up.

"Okay, I have no idea what's going on here, but I do know that if you're here, it can't be anything good."

"Why do you say that, snicker-doodle? I'm an angel." a halo appeared over Malady's head.

"Sure. An angel in a devil costume is more like it."

"Oh, you say the sweetest things about me, snuggle-bear."

"Snuggle-bear? I…W-w-what does that even mean?! Look, never mind. I wanna go home, so if you would please show me the way out."

Malady blocked Kin's path.

"What's the rush, love-muffin? You can stay as long as you want. You are my guest after all."

"I feel more like a prisoner. Just let me leave."

Kin tried to walk past the siren, but she scooped him up and hugged him to her neck.

"C'mon honey-toast. Why must you give me the cold shoulder?" ice appeared all over Malady's shoulder.

"Brr…" Kin began to shiver.

"It's been a long time since we've seen each other, hasn't it?"

"N-n-n-not long enough if you ask m-m-m-me…" Kin's teeth chattered.

"Aw, no need to be scared, dumpling. I don't bite. At least not anymore."

"I'm n-n-not scared. Y-Y-Your shoulder is really c-c-c-cold!"

"Oh!" Malady chuckled. "Well, I do tend to give men the chills once in a while." she let Kin go and he sighed with relief.

"Okay, that's it. I'm getting out of here!" Kin declared.

"But Kinny-kins, you can't go yet. I just made you dinner! And if you leave, I'll have to eat all of those delicious grilled cheese sandwiches by myself!

"I don't care about dinner, I-…did you say grilled cheese?!" Kin drooled.

Malady held a plate of sandwiches under Kin's face.

"Your absolute favorite."

"Well…I guess I could stay for a little while…"

Malady placed her hands on Kin's shoulders. "That's my little man…"

**SIRENS ARE REALLY CREEPY!**

Back at Jackie's place, Jackie and the gang were looking out the window. On the streets they saw plenty of fish women who were crying because they had just lost their boyfriends.

"Man, it looks like all of the women in town have become sea creatures! Malady's gone out of control!" Laney observed. "We gotta do something!"

"Hold on!" Corey flipped through Kin's book again. "I think Kin told me there was a way to reverse this crazy spell! Let me just look it up real quick and-"

"Riffin!" the four heard a loud voice coming from outside Jackie's bedroom. "Where are you?!"

Kon shivered with fear. "W-w-what was that?"

Just then, they all heard a loud banging on the door and it fell over, revealing what looked like an angry goblin shark with blue hair standing in the doorway. Behind her was an angler fish with glasses, a stargazer with red hair, and a blonde-haired wolffish.

"There you are!" the goblin shark said with anger in her eyes.

"Hey look guys!" Kon laughed. "The Newmans have identical cousins!"

"Can it tubbo!" the shark punched Kon in the face and stormed up to Corey. "All right Riffin, what have you done to us?!"

"Carrie? Is that really you?" Corey cried.

"Who else would it be? I am the only one in town who has perfect blue hair after all!"

"Oh yeah? Well, at least I have a normal sized nose!"

"Ohhh!" Kon taunted.

Carrie just growled. "You think you're so funny, don't you Riffin? And I bet you think that turning me and my band into ugly monsters is funny too, huh?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Corey claimed. "I didn't do anything to you. In fact, I'm pretty sure you've always looked like that."

Carrie picked Corey up by his collar and aimed her fist at him.

"You filthy imp! I oughta-"

"Care! Wait!" Larry stopped his crush. "I don't think Corey did this to us! Look! Their manager's an ugly sea creature too!"

Carrie looked at Jackie. "Hm, I don't know. You sure she didn't always look like that, Lars?"

"Hey!" Jackie retorted.

"Pretty sure." Larry answered.

Carrie dropped Corey. "But, if Grojband didn't do this, who did?"

"I'll tell you who!" Corey showed the Newmans the book. "A siren!"

Carrie glanced at the picture. "Hey! That's the same siren who turned Jack and Larry into her slaves!"

"Yep!" Corey closed the book. "And considering last time she was after all the men, my guess is this time she's after all the women! I bet she's trying to turn every female in town into gross, slimy monsters!"

"Wait a minute. I'm a girl!" Laney pointed out. "Why didn't she turn me into a monster?"

"Yeah, and how come she did with me?" Larry added. "I could have sworn she hypnotized me to make me a part of her male army last time."

"Maybe she got the two of you mixed up." Corey theorized. "I mean, you do look kinda similar."

"WE DO NOT!" both red-heads screamed but Corey just ignored them.

"So Riffin, since you're such an expert on geek mythology, and yes I meant to say it like that, how do we turn ourselves back to normal?" Carrie remarked.

"Ooh! I hope we get to sing another totally awesome song and take her voice away!" Kon took out his drumsticks.

"Not exactly." Corey took a look at the book. "It says here the only way to reverse a sea creature spell is to give the siren who cast the spell a broken heart."

"Great. How are we supposed to do that?" Carrie complained. "We don't even know where that pesky siren is! Let alone how to break her heart."

It was then that Jackie realized something.

"Hey, has anybody seen Kin?"

The others looked around the room but they didn't see Kin anywhere.

"Huh, that's funny." Corey scratched his head. "I figured he would've come with us to check up on you when you screamed. He's probably still in the garage. C'mon."

They all ran downstairs to the garage to search for the nerdy keyboardist, but unfortunately, he was nowhere in sight.

"He's not here." Jackie worried. "What could have happened to him?"

Kon noticed a little note lying on the floor. Quickly, he picked it up and read through it.

"Um…Jackie? You may wanna look at this…" he handed the note to the brown-haired blobfish and she read it out loud.

"'Dear future slaves, in case you haven't figured it out by now, it was I who transformed all of the women in Tranquil Town, including your pathetic manager. They will all be stuck as disgusting fish monstrosities forever! Consider it payback for what you did to me the last time I came to visit your putrid city. You took away my beautiful voice, so I took away your beautiful faces and bodies! Ha, ha! Oh, and if you're wondering how to stop me, you may as well cut it out because there is no way to stop me. I'm already back in my own dimension and it's impossible for you to get to me! Have a good and humiliating rest of your life, carp brains! With hate, Malady. PS: As an added bonus, I kidnapped your cutie-pie keyboardist. He's all mine now. Mine forever! Because I'm beautiful and you're not.'" Jackie dropped the note on the floor. "Oh my gosh! So that's where Kin went! Malady took him away!"

"You mean, she 'Kinnapped' him?" Kon joked and everyone else just glared. "What?"

"Poor Kin. Who knows what kind of torment Malady is putting him through right now?"

And just as Jackie was saying that, Kin was still chowing down on Malady's grilled cheese sandwiches in her secret lair. Malady rested her hands on her chin and watched her love messily eat the sandwiches she made for him. She sighed passionately as Kin swallowed one last bit of his favorite dairy treat and belched.

"Ahh…man, cheese is the greatest…especially when it's all melted into a sandwich…best meal of my entire life." he turned to Malady. "You know, you're not so bad after all. Maybe you have changed. In fact, I think I'm starting to like hanging with you. Even if you do call me all these weird names that I don't understand."

"Well what can I say, cheddar cheeks? Sometimes all it takes is a little love to mend a girl's ways." she stared into Kin's eyes and surprisingly, he stared back.

"Yeah, and speaking of love, you ever notice how pretty Jackie's eyelashes are?"

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah I mean they're absolutely perfect! Not too long, not too curly, and they have just the right amount of sparkle to make them extra shiny."

"Oh…you don't say…"

"Yup! If you ask me, she shouldn't even have to put on any makeup! Real girls like her don't need makeup! Yet they still put a ton on right before they go on a date! Crazy, right? I mean, do girls really think that that stuff impresses guys? C'mon!"

Malady looked at her container of mascara and tossed it behind her back.

"Heh, heh! Well then…more grilled cheese?" she offered Kin another plate.

"Oh you know it!" Kin took a sandwich. "These are probably the second best grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever tasted!"

"Second best?"

"Yeah, you've never seen the way Jackie makes em. She uses this extra soft cheese that looks and feels like it's already melted and then she squishes it between the awesomest tasting bread. Then she cooks it to perfection on her mom's lucky frying pan."

"Oh, does she?"

"She never overcooks them either! In fact, she always leaves em kinda undercooked! But that's what makes her sandwiches extra soft and extra special. She always makes them with love…" he sighed. "So, how do you make yours?"

"Um, bread, cheese, and a toaster oven?"

"Oh." Kin paused. "Well, they taste good nonetheless. Mind passing me a couple more?"

Malady frowned grumpily as she handed Kin the plate. While he kept eating, Malady rested a fist on her right cheek and grumbled to herself. The plan to get Kin to like her was going downhill quickly.

And speaking of things going downhill, things in Tranquil Town weren't going so well either. Tracy was still frantically trying to make herself 'beautiful again'.

"Macy! I can still see my scales! I need more powder!"

Macy picked up the face powder and poofed Tracy with it. Tracy coughed and looked in the mirror.

"Ugh! It's getting worse! I know! Maybe lipstick will help! Check near the bottom!"

Macy dug through Tracy's makeup bag and pulled out two different kinds of lip gloss.

"Um, scarlet red or carnation pink?"

"I don't care! Whichever one makes me look beautiful!"

Macy began spreading lipstick all over Tracy's thick fish lips. Jackie, Grojband, and the Newmans watched the two of them from the door.

"Man, Malady even made Tracy look ugly!" Jackie cried.

"You mean uglier." Corey corrected her.

"Wait, that's possible?" Kon was astonished.

"Ugh, who cares about her?" Carrie questioned. "Can we just hurry up and find a way to make my face drop-dead gorgeous again?"

"Hello? We can't, remember?" Laney replied sarcastically. "Malady's back in her own dimension and we have no idea how to get to where she is!"

"Hey guys!" Kon called. "I just found this page in Kin's book that has a spell on how to travel to other dimensions! It's specifically for beginners and it only takes minutes to learn!"

Corey and Laney looked up.

…Sorry guys. I ran out of ideas.

"Whatever." Corey rolled his eyes. "So Kon, how does this spell work?"

"Well it says here that first we have to sit in a really big circle."

Everyone did so.

"Then we bookmark this page in the book and put it in the middle of the circle. Then we take each other's hands and-"

"Ew!" Carrie gagged. "There's no way I'm touching any of your gross, sweaty hands!"

"C'mon Care, it's the only way to turn us back to normal!" Larry insisted and blushed. "You can hold my hand if you want to…"

"Fine…"

"Now what Kon?" Jackie asked.

"Now we close our eyes and recite the magical incantation on the next page…" it was then that Kon realized that both of his hands were attached to Kim and Konnie's hands and that he couldn't turn the page of the book.

"Hang on a second…" he bent forward and tried to turn the page with his mouth but he couldn't quite reach. "Almost got it…grr…just another inch more and…"

"Argh!" Carrie growled. "Just turn the page with your feet, stupid! It's not rocket science or whatever!"

"…I knew that." Kon lifted his foot and turned the page. "Ah! Here we go! All we have to do now is read this conjuration…ahem…Damen idish akular pakliol! Tangus kalipar boli! Vi khetsaram kali kalipar maldifidii! Kair vi aran norn vigis!"

"What? None of those were even real words!" Laney looked up again. "How'd you come up with that, anyway?"

The random magical incantation generator. Ain't the internet grand? ;)

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever."

Then suddenly, the book started to light up.

"It's working!" Kon cried. "We're about to-"

**ZAP!**

With a magical blast, the eight disappeared. Tracy and Macy stepped outside after hearing the noise.

"Like, what was that?"

"I don't know. Sounded like some randomly generated incantation was said aloud and it caused some sort of teleportation spell!"

Tracy scoffed. "Get real Mace. Now go find my foundation! My skin isn't going to complement itself!"

"Well we all know that…" Macy muttered.

"WHAT?!"

"Oh! Nothing Tracy!"

As our heroes (and the Newmans) traveled to Malady's dimension, the blonde villainess was still dealing with Kin. Since he had finished eating the dinner she prepared for him, he had been going on and on about his feelings for Jackie.

"And one time, after we finished rehearsal, she came up to me, patted my shoulder and said 'Good job Kin. You're really improving. Keep up the good work'. I was practically squealing on the inside! It was the sweetest thing she ever said to me! Isn't she just the greatest? Ooh, and wait'll I tell you about the time she-"

"All right!" Malady stood up. "That's it! Enough! Stop! Just stop talking! Kinny-kins? Why must you talk nonstop about that Jackie girl?!"

"Uh, in case it wasn't obvious Malady, I love her."

"Love her?! There's not a single reason to love her!"

"That's not true! I can think of a hundred and one reasons to love Jackie! In fact, I think I have a list of them in my pocket…"

"SHE'S UGLY!" Malady screamed, slamming her fist against the table.

Kin was silent for a few seconds.

"…Well, that's just your opinion."

"No! It's not my opinion! It's the truth! She is ugly! Very ugly! Incredibly ugly!"

"Sure…look Malady, you can shove your perspectives down my throat all you want. It's still not gonna make me believe that Jackie is, in your words, ugly." he took out his picture of Jackie. "In fact, if you just take the time to actually look at her-"

Malady slapped the picture out of Kin's hands.

"I don't believe this! Are you blind?! Why can you not see the true beauty that's right in front of you?!"

"Because you smacked it out of my hand."

"Argh! If only that pitiful girl was here right now! Then you would understand!"

And then with a loud 'zap', Malady's wish was granted as Jackie, Grojband, and the Newmans showed up in her lair.

"Sheesh, that troll from the gnome dimension sure is a clingy guy…" Corey said.

Malady gasped. "You!"

"Hey guys." Kin waved.

"Kin! You're okay?" Corey went.

"Course. Why wouldn't I be?"

The guitarist started checking Kin for injuries.

"Well, we thought that Malady had you locked up in a torture chamber or something…"

"Why would you think that?"

"Uh, cause she's evil, duh!" Laney commented.

"Malady?" Kin scoffed. "No way! She's not evil! At least not anymore! She's been nice to me ever since she forcefully dragged me here! I think she's really changed. She even made me grilled cheese sandwiches!"

"What?! You mean you had grilled cheese without me?!" Kon whimpered.

"Relax. I saved one for you." Kin handed his brother a sandwich.

"Yay!" Kon ate it happily.

"Hate to break the news to you Kin, but that blonde-haired cheat hasn't changed a bit!" Laney argued. "Thanks to her, all of the girls in town have fish lips! Just look at what she did to the Newmans!"

Kin scratched his chin. "Hm…are you sure they didn't always look like that?"

Carrie reached her arm out to strangle Kin but Larry held her back.

"Guys, I think you may be overreacting a little." Kin told his friends.

"Okay Kin, if the Newmans didn't convince you, maybe this will…" Corey and the others moved out of the way, revealing Jackie with an embarrassed look on her face. Kin was surprised.

"…Jackie?"

"Hi Kin…" the blobfish blushed.

"I…I don't…wow…"

Malady hugged Kin.

"Not a pretty sight is it, poopsy? I know. It's so hard to believe."

"Yeah…I'll say…Jackie, that dress looks absolutely incredible on you!" Kin ran up to Jackie and hugged her. Malady was horrified.

"WHAT?!"

"Kin…you…you like me this way?" Jackie stammered.

"Of course I do! I mean, you don't look at all like yourself, and you're kind of slimy, but I know you're still the same girl that I've always lo-I mean, liked as a friend and nothing more!"

"Aww Kin…" Jackie hugged her favorite keyboardist with her greasy fins.

"No…NOOOOO!" Malady, once again, got on her knees and pounded her fists on the ground. "It's not fair! It's just not fair!" she pointed a finger at Kin. "I thought you were smart enough to know the difference between a beauty and a beast! But even after I transformed your manager into this…this thing, you still prefer her over me!"

Tears streamed down the siren's face, causing her eye makeup to drip.

"Why do you have to be so cruel my little doodle-bug? Why?!"

Kin lifted up Malady's chin.

"Allow me to explain 'doll-face'. See, you are right about one thing. Jackie is a monster. At least right now she is. But just because she's hideous on the outside doesn't mean she's any less beautiful on the inside. Remember my list of reasons to love Jackie I was going to show you a few minutes ago? Well the most important reason is at the very bottom." he pulled out his list and began reading. "Reason #101: But the most important reason as to why I like Jackie so much is because she's way more than just a handful of good-looks. She's also incredibly smart, a great leader, and she always puts others before herself. That, 'baby-cakes', is my own personal definition of true beauty. And Jackie, no matter what she looks like, has all three of those qualifications."

He jumped into Jackie's arms and blushed.

"That's why I'll always lo-er, like her…"

"Kin…" Jackie's eyes welled up and she squeezed the boy with glasses into a hug.

Malady was speechless for a minute.

"But…apricot…I thought…that we…had something…"

Kin paused. "Wait, wait, hang on a second. Are you saying that I…that you thought you…and me…were a…." he covered his mouth to keep from laughing but he couldn't hold it in. "Ha, ha, ha! Oh that's rich! Ha, ha! You gotta be…that's just so…ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Stop it! You're killing me! Ha, ha, ha!"

Malady started to turn a deep red color. Kin stood up and wiped a tear from his eye.

"Man, you're funny! I think my ribs are about to crack! Ha, ha!"

Then suddenly, Malady let out a ferocious roar and turned into a red-faced giant with flames surrounding her. Kin shrieked and jumped into Jackie's arms.

"They're not the only things that are about to crack!" Malady hissed in a demon-like voice. "You broke my heart, Kin Kujira! Now I'm going to break YOU!"

"Eeek!" Kin hid his face into Jackie's neck.

"Wait a second!" Corey interrupted. "Did you just say he broke your heart?"

"Yes! It's been crushed into a million pieces, thanks to him!"

Corey gave an excited gasp. "Guys! That's it! A broken heart! That's how to break the spell!"

"What? No!"

Jackie looked at her arm and noticed magic sparkles forming over it. She dropped Kin so she could rub them away, but they wouldn't come off. They had already begun to spread over her entire body and soon they spread over to the Newmans. Malady noticed sparkles forming on her body too.

"No! This can't be happening! Noooo!"

When the sparkles cleared, Jackie and the Newmans were no longer gross fish monsters. Their faces and bodies had returned to normal.

"Hey! We're not disgusting anymore!" Jackie cheered. "Malady's broken heart reversed the spell!"

Kim and Konnie jumped with joy.

"Woohoo! Yay!"

"About time! Now I can finally look at myself in the mirror without puking!" Carrie took out her mirror and grinned. "Hello gorgeous…"

"Hello gorgeous indeed…" Larry stared at Carrie with hearts in his eyes.

"Look Kin! I'm all better! I look just like me again! Isn't that great?" Jackie asked.

"Oh Jackie…I don't care what you look like…" Kin hugged her. "You'll always be my friend, even if your face is ugly…"

"Well, ugly or not, at least everyone looks like themselves again." Laney noted.

"Um, not everyone…" Kon pointed at Malady who had somehow transformed into a blobfish!

"What? It can't be! I'm…I'm…HIDEOUS!" she wailed.

"Aw, don't sweat it, buttercup!" Kin poked Malady's nose. "You know what they say: beauty is fleeting!"

Malady growled before turning into a giant again.

"That's it! Get out! Get out! GET OOOOOUUUUUT!"

Kin gulped. "Uh, we should probably leave…"

"Good idea." Jackie looked behind her. "Kon?"

Kon flipped to a page in his brother's book. "One disappearing spell coming right up!"

Once the gang had successfully teleported themselves home safely, they immediately headed to the award ceremony at Jackie's school. Everybody in town was gathered in the auditorium and judging by how many couples were there, all of the women were free from Malady's evil spell. The show had already started but luckily, Jackie and the band hadn't missed the announcement for the True Beauty award. After Grojband performed one of their songs, Mayor Swellow stepped up to the microphone.

"Thank you Grojband! And now ladies and gents, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! Time to announce this year's winner of the True Beauty award!"

Jackie was sitting on stage with a bunch of other girls. She waved to Grojband in the audience and they all gave her a reassuring thumbs-up. Meanwhile, backstage, Tracy and Macy were getting ready to put their humiliating plan into action. Tracy peered through the curtain and snickered when she saw her sister.

"Okay Mace. Get ready on my signal!"

Mayor Swellow pulled out an envelope.

"And the winner of the True Beauty award is…" he took out the winner's name and everyone in the auditorium stood still in suspense.

"…Valerie Angilly!"

"What?!" Tracy was so shocked that she accidentally bumped into Macy, causing her to spill the bucket on herself again. "Who the heck is she?! She doesn't go to this school! I demand a recount!"

Jackie had a look of disappointment on her face as the mayor gave Valerie the award. Grojband came up on stage to comfort her.

"Wow, all that work and I didn't even get the award…" Jackie mumbled. "Bummer…"

"We're really sorry Jacks." Laney sympathized.

"Yeah. But look at the bright side." Corey told the brunette. "There's always next year."

Jackie smiled. "It's okay guys. I don't need some dumb old award. It's just a golden lump of plastic anyway. It's not like it means anything. My real award is having you all as my best friends. And I think friendship is way more important than having good looks."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Jacks!" Corey winked.

"Group hug!" Kon wrapped the other four teens around his arms, making them choke.

"You'll always be a winner to us Jackie." Kin gagged while blushing. "Me, especially."

"Thanks Kin." Jackie grinned.

Back in Malady's dimension, Malady was still a blobfish and she was watching the five friends on her monitor. Judging by how happy they all looked, she knew she had been defeated. She began to sing a reprise.

_So you have won my love_

_That girl showed up and saved the day_

_With you I'm done my love_

_Your love for her is here to stay_

_Very well, have it your way_

_I can see that you're content_

_With the woman that you chose_

_But my heart, it is still aching_

_My need for vengeance grows and grows_

_And once I get my looks back_

_I'll be ready to attack_

_Not your manager, but you!_

_The one I'm sick of_

Malady ripped a picture of Kin in half.

_At last! No more…_

_Forbidden…_

_LOVE!_

"Just you wait 'snookums'…I'll be back! Muahahahaha!"

* * *

**32 original scenarios left! 20 slots available!  
**

**Sorry if many of you are disappointed that Jackie didn't win. I was planning on giving her the award at first, but then I thought that it would be more important for her to be a winner in the eyes of her friends rather than everyone in the school. Plus I wanted to convey the message that the main character/hero/heroine cannot win every time. Hope you understand. **

**I hopefully shouldn't have a problem with getting the ****next couple of chapters done because they are based on an episode of something. I'm not going to tell you what it is yet but I will say that it is NOT an episode of Grojband ;). Again, sorry it took so long with this and I hope you all had a good Easter! Bye!**

**PS: Before people start ranting in the reviews about the age gap between Kin and Malady and how Malady should not be in love with someone much younger than her, let me point out that this is fanFICTION. As in, nothing in this story should be taken seriously because it is not real. Also, keep in mind that Malady is a siren and Kin is a human so the age gaps don't really matter because they are both entirely different species. Okay that's all. Bye.**


	65. Love Händel with Care Part 1

**Yep! You read right! It's another two-parter! This one is based off of another Phineas and Ferb episode (the first one I did was in Chapter 29), called "Dude, We're Gettin The Band Back Together" and it was suggested to me by AA:**

**"Jackie and Tracy's dad forgot about his wedding anniversary and the mom is very upset. After hearing about the band Love Handel that had brought the couple together, they all set off into town to round up the three members of the old band. And surprisingly Tracy helps them out by keeping their mom busy. I know you haven't written in the parents before but I just love this Phineas and Ferb episode and I really think this would be funny. Please and thank you." ****Note: This review was written before I introduced Jackie's parents, in case anyone was confused.**

**As I stated in one of my previous author's notes, I don't really watch Phineas and Ferb and I honestly think that people hype on it a little too much. I also get kind of annoyed when people say that Grojband is copying the show (what with the similar characters and repeated plotline), which is totally not true and I really wish people would shut up about that. But even though I don't watch P&amp;F, I still really liked this particular episode. The songs were really catchy and fun to listen to which is why, of course, I had to include them in the chapter. I hope all of you (especially you AA ;)) enjoy it! **

**PS: Sorry this one is shorter than the last couple of chapters. I kind of missed writing chapters that are only around 4,000 words, so I decided to split this thing up into two parts to make it shorter. Hope you like it nonetheless!**

* * *

**Chapter 65**

**Love Händel with Care Part 1**

"YEAH!"

With one final chord on the guitar and one final beat on the drums, Grojband had finished playing their song. The band stood still for a few more seconds on the stage in the garage as Jackie clapped for them.

"Nice work you guys! I swear you get better every time I hear you!"

Kin giggled and blushed. "Aw, and I swear you get prettier every time I see you, Jackie!"

"What was that Kin?"

"Uh, nothing!"

Then all of a sudden, the five friends heard two voices coming from outside of the garage.

"Hey, what's that?" Laney wondered. She and the others listened in.

"So you really don't know what day it is?"

"I told you! It's Friday!"

"It's more than just another Friday, Paul!" the door to the garage opened and Jackie's mother stepped inside.

"Hi Mom!" Jackie greeted her with a hug.

"Hi sweetie." Mrs. Matthews returned her youngest daughter's hug.

"Hi Mrs. Matthews!" Grojband waved.

"Oh, hello Corey! Laney. Kon." she looked at Kin. "And hello to you too Kip!"

Kin chuckled. "Actually Mrs. Matthews, it's Kin."

"Oh. Whatever." Mrs. Matthews walked over to her car just as Mr. Matthews came running in after her.

"Lucy! Please! Come back!"

"Hello Mr. Matthews." Kin smiled at Jackie's father.

"Keyboard player." Mr. Matthews replied harshly. "Darling, wait! You still haven't told me what day it is!"

"Hmph! Well, I'm going to the salon to get my hair done. Maybe you'll have it figured out by the time I get home."

And with that said, Mrs. Matthews got into her car and drove away. Mr. Matthews sat down on the stage and scratched his head. Jackie sat next to him.

"Hey Dad. What's going on?"

"I have no idea honey. Your mother has been acting odd all day. If only I knew what all the fuss was about."

"Ahem!"

Mr. Matthews turned around and saw Tracy standing in the doorway. She was holding up a calendar.

"Hello? It's February 15th. Your wedding anniversary!"

"Our wedding anniversary?!" Mr. Matthews stood up. "Oh no! This is bad! Very, very bad! Sorry kids! I'd love to stay and chat, but I gotta go find a way to fix this!"

"Sheesh." Corey said once Mr. Matthews was gone. "What's the big deal? It's just a calendar date."

"Are you kidding?" Tracy answered. "Anniversaries are like, the most important dates ever, Beanie Boy! They mark the most memorable times you and your true love spent together! Take June for example. On the 3rd, Rick Salary spoke to me for the first time back in the 7th grade. May 6th he brushed up against me in the hall. Ooh! And April 3rd was the first time I saw him without his jacket on! Hee, hee! He looked so cute!"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "For once, my psycho sister is right, Corey. Anniversaries are serious business. Forgetting one is like forgetting to put ice cream in an ice cream sundae!"

Kon gasped. "No! Anything but that!"

"Whoa! That is serious!" Corey noted. "Your dad must be in huge trouble! C'mon gang! Let's go see if we can do anything to help!"

Jackie and the others headed upstairs to Jackie's parents' room where Mr. Matthews was digging around his dresser drawers for some last-minute anniversary gifts.

"Hey Dad!" Jackie called. "Me and Grojband came by to see if you needed any help finding a present for Mom!"

Mr. Matthews sat on his bed. "Oh, I don't think so sweetheart. Not unless you or your band can perform miracles."

Jackie sat next to him. "C'mon! There must be something we can do!"

"I'm not sure…tell me sweet pea, what would you give your special someone on their anniversary?"

"Oh please!" Tracy entered the room. "Dad, are you seriously asking Jackie for romantic advice? That's so pathetic! Everyone knows the only boys who love her are nerds!"

Just as Tracy said this, Kin took out his photo of Jackie and started rubbing it to his cheek while sighing happily. He then noticed that Mr. Matthews was watching, so he quickly hid it away and gave a guilty smile. Mr. Matthews just snarled.

"I rest my case or whatever." Tracy shoved Jackie away and sat down next to her dad. "Anyway, don't you and Mom have any cherished memories and junk?"

"Hm…oh! Yes! I remember one!" Mr. Matthews reached under the bed and pulled out a tool box. "I've got just the thing in here!"

"He keeps his treasured memories in a tool box?" Laney was weirded out.

After a bit of searching, Mr. Matthews pulled out an old cassette tape.

"Here it is!"

"Whoa. What is it Dad?" Jackie asked.

"Well Jackie, just like Grojband is your favorite band, your mother had a favorite band too. Love Händel." he explained. "I bought us tickets to their farewell concert. We were a handsome, stylish couple back in those days. I never so much as held your mother's hand but that night, I made my move. Truly, it was an evening I will never, ever forget."

"Uh-huh. But you did forget, didn't you?" Tracy remarked.

Mr. Matthews sighed. "It's too bad Love Händel broke up years ago. Some things can never be recaptured."

Jackie beamed. "Hey Dad! I got an idea! Why don't I have Grojband play one of Love Händel's songs when Mom gets home tonight? I'm sure she'll love it!"

Grojband did cool poses and grinned. Mr. Matthews gave a sad smile.

"Thanks sweetie, but Love Händel's songs don't sound the same unless they're performed by the real Love Händel." he got in Kin's face. "Plus, I'm not sure if you knew this, but they didn't have a keyboard player…"

Kin gulped as Jackie's dad left the room.

"Jackie, sometimes I feel like your dad is out to get me for some reason…" Kin got closer to the brunette. "Your hair looks pretty by the way…"

"Guys!" Corey interrupted the moment. "I think I know how we can solve this problem! Jackie's parents' favorite band broke up, right? Well if we can locate all of the band members and get them back together, maybe they can play a totally awesome reunion concert in Jackie's backyard! Then Jackie's mom'll forgive Jackie's dad for forgetting their anniversary! It's foolproof!"

"Yeah!" Kin and Kon cheered.

"Sounds great Core." Laney stated sarcastically. "Only one problem. We don't know where any of the band members are! For all we know, they could be dead!"

"No they're not!" Kon had a laptop with him. "Check out this video I just found."

Everybody gathered around Kon and watched the computer screen.

"For a moment, their ballad 'Snuck Your Way Into My Heart' snuck its way to number one and stayed there for eleven consecutive minutes." the video explained. "But whatever happened…to Love Händel?"

"A better question is, who cares?" Tracy responded and the others shushed her.

"The band was riding high, but tastes were changing, and Love Händel found itself playing smaller and smaller venues. Pressures from a dwindling fan base caused in-fighting among the band members. Lines were drawn, then lines were crossed. Eventually the lines were erased, and the piece of paper crumpled up and thrown away, and Love Händel was no more."

"Gosh, that's so sad." Jackie commented.

"Years later, Love Händel's music continues to warm the hearts of an appreciative public. Bass player, Bobbi Fabulous, now runs a trendy hair salon. Drummer, Swampy, works quietly at the public library. And only lead singer Danny is still a player in the music industry."

The screen showed a picture of a music store called 'Danny's Music Shop'.

"Hey! I've seen that sign before!" Jackie pointed at the screen. "It's near Tranquil Town Square!"

"Perfect!" Corey declared. "We'll get him and the other guys to sing for Jackie's mom tonight! For the first time ever, Grojband is gonna share its spotlight with another band!"

"YEAH!" everybody but Tracy yelled.

"Okay!" Jackie said. "Corey? You go to the music shop to get Danny! Kin and Kon? You head to the library and find Swampy! Tracy, you keep Mom busy and make sure she doesn't come home until we're ready! And Laney and I will go to the hair salon and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tracy stopped her. "If you think for even one second that I'm going to help you twizerppy twerps, you got another thing coming, sister!"

"C'mon Tracy!" Jackie begged. "If Mom comes home before we get everything ready, the surprise will be ruined! We need you! Please just do this one favor for us?"

"I think you already know my three word answer…" Tracy poked Jackie's nose. "No…way…shrimp!"

"Okay, how about this? If you help us, then we'll…clean your room!"

"Don't be ridiculous! I have a Macy to do that for me!"

"Okay, then maybe we could…do your laundry! Or paint your nails! Or tell you how beautiful you look a zillion times a day!"

"Macy does all of those things too."

"Oh…"

"If you really want me to help you, then you're going to have to do something way harder!"

"What do you mean 'way harder'?"

"Here's the deal. If I distract Mom so you and Grojbland can get Love Händel back together, then they have to stop playing their grody music in the garage for a whole year!"

Grojband gasped.

"What?!" Jackie cried. "No way! They'll do it for a day!"

"A month!"

"A week! That's my final offer!"

"Ugh! Fine. One FULL week of a completely silent, noise-free garage in exchange for helping you. Deal?"

"Deal." Jackie shook her sister's hand.

"Good. And you'd better not go back on your word, squirt. If I hear even one little note coming from that garage, I'm gonna mute you and your little friends for good, understand?"

"Don't worry sis. We promise not to make any sounds from the garage. Right guys?"

Grojband smiled and nodded.

"Now let's go find Love Händel and convince them to sing for Mom and Dad!" Jackie put her hand in and everyone else did the same. "Ready team?"

"YEAH!" Grojband cheered. "LET'S GO!"

"Ew. Did I seriously just touch their hands?" Tracy muttered to herself.

"Okay! Move out!" Jackie ordered. And then they all went their separate ways.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

After a bit of walking, Corey arrived at Danny's Music Shop.

"Well, this looks like the place." the guitarist entered the shop and saw a teenager with glasses playing a guitar.

"No, no, no! You're doing it all wrong!" a man with brown hair and a beard took the guitar away from the teen. "This is a rock-and-roll guitar for rock-and-roll music!"

The teen scoffed. "Whatever man."

"Okay, run!" the man called out as the kid left the store. "The power of rock too scary for ya, I see!"

Corey stepped forward. "You must be Danny from Love Händel, right?"

"That's me!" Danny nodded. "Always an honor to be recognized by my fans. Say, aren't you a little young to be a fan of Love Händel?"

"Uh…I guess so. Why?"

"Whoa, that was not the answer I was expecting from you."

"What'd you expect me to say?"

"I don't know. Something along the lines of 'Yes. Yes I am'? Maybe?"

Corey blinked. "…Okay…well, anyways…don't you think you were a little tough on that guy just now?"

"Oh, he'll be back." Danny reassured him. "When the spirit calls him!"

"Whoa! Sounds like you're real passionate about rock-and-roll!"

"Well, it's only my life." Danny shrugged.

"No worries man! It's my life too! The name's Corey Riffin! Lead singer and lead guitarist of Grojband!"

"Never heard of it."

"Yeah, a lot of folks haven't…but not for long! Cause pretty soon we're gonna be the talk of Tranquil Town!"

"Well, let's hope your band doesn't turn out the way mine did. I'll tell ya, it's not easy being a rock star, kid. Especially when you have to share the fame with your bandmates. If that's the case, things get ugly real fast. So ugly in fact that you may not appreciate music as much as you used to."

"Don't worry! Me and the other guys wouldn't dream of giving up on music! Especially not me!" Corey pulled out his guitar and played a little.

"Hey, not bad kid!" Danny complimented. "You know, if you keep working on that riff, someday you'll sound as good as me! Well, almost."

"Oh yeah?" Corey smiled competitively. "Let's hear you play!"

"Oh I won't just play for you kid. I'll sing for ya." Danny took out his guitar and started playing a song.

_Danny: When I was a boy_

_Down in South Illinois_

_I heard a man playing blues_

_Oh what a wonderful noise_

_He had an old guitar_

_But not a dollar to his name_

_Making music so sad_

_But he was happy just the same_

_He gave me a wink and said_

_'Son let me share the news_

_If you want a happy life_

_You gotta learn to sing the blues'_

_I asked my daddy for a guitar_

_Oh I begged and I pled_

_I said I wanted to play the blues_

_And he just nodded his head_

_Daddy said when he was my age_

_Boogie-woogie was the thing_

_Corey: Just take the blues, throw out your hip_

_And add a little swing_

_Danny: Ah, music has the power_

_That without it he'd a sworn_

_That he'd a never a met my mom_

_And I'd a never a been born_

Danny grabbed another guitar and did a psychedelic guitar solo. Corey noticed that the two of them were now in a color-changing background.

"What's this?" he asked.

"This is Psychedelia. It's where the guitar solo came from."

"No, I mean what's with all the colors?"

"…I have no idea."

Danny picked up yet another guitar and played a funky tune.

_Danny: Ha!_

_I kept learning _

_All the powers my guitar had_

_I made it go 'wakka-wakka' _

_'Till it was so good it was bad_

_Corey: Just make a face and stomp that bass_

_You can make that rhythm bump_

_But this is just the blues_

_But in a way that makes you wanna shake your rump_

_Danny: I can make you clap your hands *claps*_

_I can make you get up and dance_

_If you wanna shake your booty, my friend_

_You gotta give the funk a chance_

Next, Corey and Danny played heavy metal.

_Danny: Metal!_

_Pound your fist in the air!_

_Metal!_

_Bang your head full of hair!_

_It's crunchy, and it's nasty,_

_Full of bad attitude_

_Corey: Your parents will think you're crazy_

_Your neighbors will think you're rude_

_Danny: Believe it or not_

_It's all the blues again_

_You just add a little fuzz _

_And turn your amp up to ten!_

_Music has the power to change your life_

_Forever! _

Danny did one last guitar solo before finishing his musical history lesson. Corey clapped for him as he bowed.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

"Wow, guess you were right!" Corey said impressed. "You're way better than me! Like a bazillion times better! No wonder my manager's parents fell in love at one of your band's concerts!"

"See? Music does change lives."

"And speaking of which, tonight's their anniversary, and I was wondering if you wanted to sing for them. You know, to relive old memories."

"That'd be righteous, dude! But good luck getting the other guys."

"Aw, it won't be a problem." Corey handed Danny an invitation. "After all, who can resist the power of rock-and-roll?"

Danny read the invitation as Corey walked out the front door.

"'Love Händel Reunion'. I'll be there! Rock on Corey Riffin!" he waved goodbye.

Just as Corey was leaving the store, the same teen from before came back in.

"The spirit of rock-and-roll has called out to me!"

"I knew it." Danny handed him a guitar. "That'll be 1800 dollars."

Once Corey was outside, he pulled out his cell phone.

"Hey Kelsey and Alyssa!"

"Yes Corey?" the groupies responded almost immediately.

"Hey listen. Me and the band are trying to-"

"Get Love Händel back together?" Kelsey guessed.

"So Jackie's parents can have the best anniversary ever?!" Alyssa finished.

"Well yeah…so I was just wondering if you girls could-"

"Set up a stage for them to perform on?"

"We're like, already on it Corey!"

"EEEE!" both girls squealed before hanging up.

"Man, those girls are efficient. A little weird, but very efficient."

**FREAKY GIRLS TRANSITION!**

Meanwhile, at Bobbi's Hair Emporium, Jackie's mom was getting ready to get her hair done. Tracy was there with her to keep her distracted.

"Gosh, I wonder what new look Bobbi has envisioned for me this time." Mrs. Matthews told her oldest daughter. "You know, he was in my favorite band, Love Händel."

Tracy's eyes opened wide. "Love Händel?"

"Yessiree! But he doesn't like to talk about it, so don't bring it up."

Tracy heard her phone ringing and saw Jackie's name on the caller ID.

"Uh, I gotta take this!" she walked away from her mother and whispered. "All right pipsqueak! You better have made progress!"

"Corey just called and he said he got Danny! Now me and Laney are gonna try to convince Bobbi Fabulous!"

"What?! But that's mom's hairdresser! Where are you right now?"

"Walking in the front door of Bobbi's…oh…"

Tracy looked behind her and saw Jackie and Laney standing near the door.

"You little imbecile!" Tracy scolded. "If Mom sees you and your little dude friend here, she's gonna know what you're up to!"

"Not a dude!" Laney yelled into the phone.

"Look, can you just keep Mom distracted for us while we talk to Bobbi?" Jackie requested.

"Ugh. Whatever. But you so owe me." Tracy went back to Mrs. Matthews. "Hey Mom! I was thinking, maybe we should get you ready for Bobbi!"

The dark-haired girl pushed Mrs. Matthews' head into a sink.

"Tracy! What are you doing?!" Mrs. Matthews cried as water poured all over her face.

"You look like you need some conditioner!" Tracy grabbed a container and poured its contents all over Mrs. Matthews.

"Tracy! Stop!"

"Excuse me." one of the hairdressers came up to Jackie and Laney. "Do you two have an appointment?"

"Uh, no." Jackie showed the lady a poster. "We're here to see Bobbi. Bass player of Love Händel?"

Then suddenly, a comb came out of nowhere and sliced Jackie's poster in half. All of the hairdressers gasped and turned around. Standing behind them was a tall white-haired man with a soul patch and glasses. Jackie and Laney could only assume that he was Bobbi Fabulous, former bass player of Love Händel. He stepped up to the front to meet the girls.

"Fabiana? Who are these little people?"

"I don't know sir." Fabiana answered.

"You." he pointed at Jackie. "Your hair is a mess. And you?" he got in Laney's face. "Don't you know that little boys aren't supposed to wear lipstick?"

Laney scowled and turned red. Jackie placed her hands on the bassists's shoulders.

"Take it easy, girlfriend." she turned to Bobbi. "We're not here for vanity advice, Mr. Fabulous. We're here to get Love Händel back together."

"Oh please." Bobbi snorted. "Talk to the hand."

"I don't like his attitude…" Laney snarled to Jackie.

"C'mon! Give him a chance! He's a bass player just like you."

"You mean he was a bass player! Now he's more like a guy version of your sister!"

Jackie rolled her eyes.

"You see Mr. Fabulous, the first time my parents kissed was at one of your concerts. And it's their anniversary so we thought-"

Bobbi yawned. "B to the O-R-I-N-G!"

Laney raised her fist and growled but Jackie pulled it back down.

"Wait! Let him talk first."

"Anyway, you don't need me. I just play bass in the background." Bobbi looked down sadly. "Nobody even remembers me."

Laney's angry look turned into one of sympathy.

"Wow. Never knew us bass players had such a bad rep."

"Are you kidding? Bass players are like, super important! Without them, a band just isn't a band!" Jackie started singing.

_Jackie: I don't mean to tell you what you already know_

_You're the one with style, you're the whole darn show_

_The other guys play their instruments fine_

_But next to you, their looks are a crime_

"Tracy!" Mrs. Matthews sat up.

"Hot towel!" Tracy shoved a hot towel in her face.

_Bobbi: Well, they say true beauty, it comes from within_

_But you have to be comfortable in your own skin_

_So I exfoliate with this exotic cream_

_Just look at me! I look like a dream!_

One of the stylists snapped pictures of Bobbi.

"I gotta admit," Laney began. "He does look pretty darn good."

Mrs. Matthews removed the hot towel from her face.

"Tracy, what is going on?"

"Dry cycle!" Tracy covered her mother's face with a dryer.

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're the one, yes you're the star_

_We need you back on bass guitar_

_You're fabulous_

_Bobbi: I'm fabulous!_

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're fabulous!_

_Bobbi: I'm fabulous!_

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're the one we all can see_

_It's all about you_

_Bobbi: It's all about me!_

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're fabulous_

_Bobbi: I'm fabulous!_

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're fabulous!_

_Bobbi: I'm fabulous!_

_You know, no two people are alike each other_

_So don't be a look-alike copying another_

_Unless of course you're copying me _

_Cause that gives you individuality_

_Jackie: Nice do! But back to the matter at hand_

_So what do you say? Are you back in the band?_

_Bobbi: Well maybe if I can find my old leather_

_Laney: Jacks! We're getting the band back together!_

Bobbi put on his old uniform and started playing his bass.

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're the one who sets the bar_

_The hairdo king, the fashion czar_

_You're fabulous_

_Bobbi: I'm fabulous!_

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're fabulous_

_Bobbi: Oh, I'm fabulous!_

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're the one we all can see_

_It's all about you_

_Bobbi: It's all about me!_

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're fabulous_

_Bobbi: I'm fabulous!_

_Jackie, Laney, and Chorus: You're fabulous_

_Bobbi: I'm fabulous!_

Bobbi and the hairdressers did poses.

"Okay! I'm in!" Bobbi stated.

"Yes!" Laney cheered. "Two down, one to go!"

"Yep! Now we just need to wait for Kin and Kon to convince the drummer Swampy, and Mom and Dad's anniversary will be saved!" Jackie exclaimed.  
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's cut to Kin and Kon already!"

"We can't." Jackie shook her head. "We have to wait for Part 2."

"Part 2?! Why would we have a need to split this thing up into two parts? Can't the author just fit it all into one chapter?"

"I think she said she was tired of putting so many words into one chapter. The doc manager can be really stingy when it comes to word counts. Especially when she's at her dad's house. So the readers will have to wait for the next chapter to see the conclusion."

"Oh. Well I guess that makes sense. Okay, we'll save the other stuff for the next chapter. Now we just need to figure out how to end this one."

"Wait!"

The girls turned around and saw Corey running into the salon. He came up to the girls and panted.

"Am I too late to wrap things up?"

"Nope! They're all yours!" Jackie offered.

"Cool. Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey closed the garage door.

**To be continued…**

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**31 original scenarios left! 20 slots available!**

**Well I'm back in school now which means I'm going to be super busy again. I already have two more projects and a paper that I need to get done, so if you don't see another chapter for a while, that's probably why (meaning don't freak out if I don't update for another month) I will still try to find time to write up Part 2 but don't expect it to be done tomorrow. As always, remember to review and I'll see you all again soon!**


	66. Love Händel with Care Part 2

**Yay! My final exams are over! Seriously, I thought I would never make it through this month, what with all the tests and the papers and whatnot. But all of that is finally done, which means I can get back to writing stuff for you guys! Including the second and final part of the story I left you with about a month ago. I know you guys have been anxious to read this, which is why I would like to thank you all for being so patient with me these past few weeks. I really wish I could work on this fic every day, but when you're me, you'll find that it's rather difficult between all of the studying, classes, and social events. That's why it feels so good to get a break from all those things every once in a while and to get a chance to focus on the stuff you love doing. And this is what I've been working on for the past few days. I hope all of you enjoy it and find that it was worth the wait!**

* * *

**Chapter 66**

**Love Händel with Care Part 2**

Well, after a whole month of inactivity, we're finally back with the second part of Love Händel with Care. So in case you missed the first part, here's a quick recap. Basically…wait a minute. I'm not going to tell you. In fact, why should I bother giving a recap at all? It's not like this is a TV show that you forgot to record the first part of while you were off doing something else. Honestly, if you came to this chapter first without reading Part 1, then it's really your fault. So don't blame me if you get super confused just by reading the beginning of this. Because let's face it. This is a fanfic and it's impossible to miss things that are always available for everyone to see. Really all you have to do is click on that ol' Previous button in the right hand corner (or scroll all the way down to the chapter selection if you're on a touch-screen device) and you'll be well on your way to catching up with Jackie and Grojband's latest adventures. Oh, and don't worry about leaving this page. It's not going anywhere.

But really, what am I wasting space for? It's been an entire month, so obviously you've had time to read all of Part 1 or maybe even the entire story if this is your first time reading it. So let's just stop with this opening joke and get back to the story already, okay? Here we go.

Kin and Kon stood outside the Tranquil Town public library. Kin had just gotten a text from Jackie.

"Great news! Jackie says she and Laney got Bobbi back in the band! Looks like the rest is up to us, little bro!" Kin pulled up the Love Händel video he and the others watched earlier. "According to the special, Swampy, the ex-drummer of Love Händel, now works in the comfort of the Tranquil Town library. Huh. Guess he has a lot of book smarts to go with that quick pacing."

Kon yawned. "Lame. Whoever heard of a drummer working at a library? It's too quiet. And boring. And to top it all off, you have to read stuff here. Who likes reading? Or learning?"

The twins stepped through the front doors and walked to the front desk.

"You know, sometimes I wonder how the two of us are twins." Kin put a hand in front of his brother, stopping him in his tracks. "Holy provolone! Is that…?"

The two stared at the picture of Swampy on the Love Händel poster and then at the person working the front desk. Their faces were identical! And even though the man at the desk was much older, had gray hair, and wore glasses, Kin and Kon could tell that he was indeed Swampy, the ex-drummer of Love Händel.

"C'mon!" Kin took Kon's hand and led him over to the front desk where Swampy was stamping overdue books while unintentionally making a funky rhythm.

"Um, excuse me?" Kin spoke up to get Swampy's attention. "Uh, hi. I'm Kin and this is my brother Kon. By any chance, would your name be Swampy? The drummer of Love Händel?"

"That my friend was a past life." Swampy said pointing at his name tag. "The name's Sherman. Why ya asking?"

"Cause they're reforming for one night only! It's for my girlfriend's parents' anniversary."

Kon whispered in Swampy's ear. "She's not his girlfriend actually. She never will be."

"Ahem!" Kin pulled Kon back. "Anyway…would you be interested in playing with your former bandmates tonight?"

Swampy frowned as he continued to stamp books. "I'd love to boys, but I'm kinda rusty when it comes to music. I lost my sense of rhythm a long time ago."

"What?!" Kon gasped. "You're kidding, right? You're a drummer! Drummers can't lose their sense of rhythm!"

"How do you know?"

"Because I happen to be a drummer." Kon took out his drumsticks and spun them around.

"Best one this side of Tranquil Town!" Kin added.

"And if there's one thing I know, it's this." Kon stood on Swampy's desk and looked him in the eye. "Drummers can lose their drumsticks. Drummers can lose their dignity. And maybe sometimes drummers can lose their lunch. Especially after eating too many tacos. But there's one thing…one thing that we holders of the power sticks cannot lose…and that's the way we keep a steady beat."

"Oh yeah?" Swampy interrupted. "What about if you fall asleep next to a metronome?"

Kin and Kon gasped in horror and held onto each other.

"Um, you're not talking about what we think you're talking about, are you?" Kin shivered with fear.

"What do you mean? I'm talking about the kind that keeps tempo."

"Keeps tempo for itself?" Kon guessed.

"No, for the band." Swampy corrected. "It's that little thingy that ticks over and over again. I mean, what other metronome is there?"

Kin and Kon stopped shivering.

"Uh…nothing…" Kin said uneasily.

"Yeah…only one I've heard of…" Kon mumbled.

"Anyhoo, as I was saying before, I fell asleep next to a metronome once. When I woke up, I completely lost my sense of rhythm. I've been here ever since."

Kin and Kon continued to listen as Swampy stamped books. For some reason, they felt like tapping their feet.

_Kin: So you're saying that you don't have rhythm_

_But listen what you're doing right there_

_With that stamp and a book_

_You got a real nice hook_

_Sounds to me like you've got rhythm to spare_

_Swampy: I have no idea what you're talking about_

_I've got as much rhythm as that chair_

_What happened to me_

_Was a tragedy_

_But I don't have to be a millionaire_

_Look I got a sweet deal going on here_

_I got all the books that I can read_

_All these sweet old ladies_

_And this carpet from the eighties_

_What more could a librarian need?_

"Shh!" an old woman scolded Swampy.

_Swampy: (quietly) Besides I ain't got rhythm_

_No I ain't got rhythm_

_I said I ain't got rhythm_

_I ain't got rhythm_

Swampy stood up from his desk and started putting the overdue books back on their shelves.

_Kon: You're kidding me right? You're-you're kidding me_

_Don't you see what you were doing right then?_

_That's a wicked groove_

_You were starting to move_

_Mister, you've got rhythm times ten_

_Swampy: I think perhaps that you're not listening_

_I find it tedious to repeat_

_It's no big crime_

_I just can't keep time_

_I'm telling you I lost the beat_

The library patrons started to slam their books against the table in time with Swampy.

_Swampy: I don't need my face on t-shirts_

_Or hit a power chord guitar_

_They were screaming my name_

_I guess it's a shame_

_I don't need to be a rock star_

Swampy picked up a ruler and his desk's nameplate and beat them against a table. Kin, Kon and everyone else joined in with books.

_Swampy: Besides I ain't got rhythm_

_No I ain't got rhythm_

_I said I ain't got rhythm_

_I ain't got rhythm_

_I ain't got rhythm_

_Kon: Sounds like rhythm to me_

_Swampy: No I ain't got rhythm_

_Kin: Seems like they all agree_

_Swampy: I said I ain't got rhythm_

_Kin and Kon: But you're laying down some funky syncopation_

Kon brought in Swampy's drums and he started to play them, with the ruler and nameplate as his sticks.

_Swampy: I ain't got rhythm_

_Kin: But you got that beat_

_Swampy: No I ain't got rhythm_

_Kon: Look at them! They're stomping their feet_

_Swampy: I said I ain't got rhythm_

_Kin and Kon: It's time for you to rock a_

_Kin, Kon, and Swampy: Brand new generation_

_Library patrons: Brand new generation_

_Kin, Kon, and Swampy: Gonna rock a brand new generation_

_Swampy: Because I ain't got rhythm!_

"Ugh!" an old lady groaned. "Would you just go join the band?"

Swampy looked over at Kin and Kon and smiled. The twins excitedly watched him as he played an incredible drum solo. They began pushing him out of the library.

_Library patrons: They've got rhythm_

_They've got rhythm_

_They've got rhythm_

_They've got rhythm_

_Swampy: (finishes drum solo) Hey I got rhythm!_

And so, our heroes had done it. They had successfully rounded up all three of the band members and convinced them to sing for Jackie's parents. Now all they had to do was get home so they could explain their plan to Jackie's dad. And speaking of which, he had already thought of a way to make up for forgetting his wife's anniversary by having a company called "Love On the Run" set up a last-minute anniversary surprise.

The middle-aged man walked into the backyard where a few tables were set up. One of them had candlelights and a vase full of roses and the other had two chairs beside it as well as a cake and a bottle of wine. An old lady dressed as a heart was standing beside the table.

"Okay now let's see…" Mr. Matthews was reading from a script. "Lead the way for the lovely lady with an elegant wave of your hand…for you and only you, insert your name here…"

Mr. Matthews then noticed an orange light over him.

"Oh thanks for the light-what the-?" he turned around and saw that the candlelights had set the bouquet of roses on fire.

"No! No! No!" Mr. Matthews rushed over and shook the roses. "Help me put it out! Do something!"

The old lady retrieved the garden hose and was about to put out the fire, but she accidentally pulled on it too hard which caused the table to fall over. The hose then broke off and sprayed water over everything. Mr. Matthews looked at the bouquet in his hand, which now only had one flower and it was burnt to a crisp.

"Well that hardly ever happens…" the lady said.

Jackie's dad sighed and after he cleaned up the backyard and threw away the cake, he sat down in the garage with his single gray rose.

"Oh well. So much for that." he told the old lady. "I guess it's not a total loss, I mean, this is still presentable, right?"

"Uh…"

Just then, the door opened and Jackie and Grojband came in.

"Hey Dad! We're back! We-" Jackie noticed the lady in the heart costume. "Uh, what's going on here?"

The old lady got up and started singing. "So, I hear it's your anniver-"

"Please!" Mr. Matthews covered his ears. "Stop!"

"Nobody ever lets me finish my number." the old lady walked into the house. "That's it. Call me when my ride's here!"

"There's lasagna in the fridge!" Jackie called after her, right before she heard a loud belch.

Everybody looked over at Kon, who now had red sauce and a guilty smile on his face.

"Sorry…"

Jackie sighed. "Or there was…"

Mr. Matthews continued to mope as his younger daughter sat beside him.

"Oh honey, I've tried everything. It's hopeless. Your mother is never going to forgive me."

"Never say never Dad! Corey?"

Corey flipped the garage door opener, revealing Love Händel standing outside.

"Love Händel?!" Mr. Matthews stood up. "That's…that's incredible! Jackie, h-how did you do it?"

"When you have good friends, anything's possible." Jackie winked at Grojband.

"Oh thank you so much sweetheart!" Mr. Matthews hugged her tight. "I can't wait to see your mother's face when she gets home! Hm, come to think of it. Where is she right now?"

Meanwhile, at the mall, Tracy was still keeping Mrs. Matthews distracted by making her try on a ton of dresses.

"Nope! Totally not it!" Tracy said as her mother tried on another one.

"I don't know why you're making me do this, Tracy." Mrs. Matthews replied. "I mean, when do I ever dress this fancy anyways?"

A store worker came into the dressing room. "So how are you ladies doing?"

Tracy checked her watch. "Oh we definitely need to keep looking."

Mrs. Matthews sighed.

"Well take your time." the store worker grinned. "We still have plenty of dresses for you to try on!"

"And we totes have plenty of time!" Tracy agreed as the store worker dragged Mrs. Matthews out of the dressing room.

"Oh! Tracy!"

**DRESS UP TIME TRANSITION!**

Back at the Matthews' residence, Jackie and the gang were waiting for Love Händel to change into their performance wear while Kelsey and Alyssa put some finishing touches on the stage. Kin came into the garage pulling a wagon with a giant cloth sitting on top of it.

"Phew!" Kin panted. "Finally! This thing is heavier than it looks."

"Hey Kin." Jackie greeted. "Whatcha got there?"

"Oh this? Oh it's nothing much. Just a little last-minute addition to your parents' anniversary surprise." the scientist removed the cloth, revealing a huge firecracker sitting in the wagon.

"…A firecracker?" Jackie raised an eyebrow.

"Not just any firecracker! The world's largest firecracker! Well…second-largest. Tonight after Love Händel finishes their song and your mom and dad hug and make up, I'll launch this baby into the air and it'll explode into a display of love-hearts! Your parents are sure to love it!"

"Wow Kin, I'm impressed. For someone who has no interest in love whatsoever, you sure know how to make a lady happy!"

Kin just blushed and giggled as Love Händel came back into the garage, wearing their old clothes.

"I have to admit." Danny said. "Never thought I'd be wearing this stuff again."

Bobbi looked inside the box of the band's old gear and pulled out Swampy's old striped leggings.

"Ooh look!"

"Sorry folks!" Swampy chuckled with a mouthful of cake. "Not gonna happen!"

"Dude, is that the cake from the trash?" Danny questioned.

"What? You can't let good cake go to waste!"

"Looks like it all went to waste to me!" Bobbi remarked.

"Watch it Mr. Tease and Curl!"

"Hey! C'mon guys! Don't fight!" Corey persuaded.

Bobbi ignored him and got in Swampy's face. "This is exactly the kind of slovenly behavior that ruined Love Händel!"

"No!" Swampy argued. "It was in-fighting due to pressure caused by a dwindling fanbase!"

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked.

"It was in that special."

"You saw that too?" Bobbi replied. "Did I look fat? I thought I looked fat."

"Ugh! I'm starting to see why these guys broke up." Laney noted. "Some things and people just aren't meant to be together."

"You know something? You're right!" Danny headed for the door. "I'm outta here!"

"Wait!" Jackie tried to stop him. "You can't go! Mom's not back! What about your fans?"

"Jackie, I admire your optimism." Danny frowned. "But besides your dad, be honest…what fans?"

Jackie just smiled. "Hit it Core!"

Corey opened up the garage door and Love Händel was incredibly shocked to see what looked like hundreds of people cheering their names in front of the stage Kelsey and Alyssa made for them.

"Whoa…" Danny stepped forward and his bandmates followed suit. "You guys did all this just for us?"

"Well, mostly for Jackie's parents." Laney pointed out. "But for you too."

Danny grinned and picked up his guitar. "Okay guys! Let's rock the roof off this place!"

"Wait!" Jackie cried. "Not yet! We have to wait for my mom to get here!"

Danny shook his head. "Sorry Jackie, but do you see how many adoring fans are out there? We gotta go on now or we're gonna have a serious fashion metal riot on our hands."

"No!" Mr. Matthews stepped onto the stage. "You can't start without Lucy!"

Suddenly, the lights on the stage started flashing. Everyone looked up and saw Laney working the spotlight. She pointed it out into the crowd where a car was pulling up.

"Look! It's Mom!" Jackie called out.

"What are all these people doing on our street?" Mrs. Matthews wondered as the light hit her eyes. "Hey! What on earth?"

Tracy looked out the window. "Whoa…that little twerp actually did it…"

"Did what?" Mrs. Matthews overheard. "Tracy, honey, what's going on here?"

"C'mon Dad!" Jackie dragged her father offstage.

"That's our cue boys!" Danny winked. "Hit it!"

Kon swiped Swampy's drumsticks. "One, two, three-"

"Uh, Kon?" Corey took Kon's hand and pulled him away. "This isn't our show, remember?"

"Aww…"

Swampy took back his sticks. "One, two, three, four!"

The band started to play a romantic song and all the while, Mrs. Matthews drove her way through the crowd.

"Lucy!" Mr. Matthews yelled. "Lucy, darling!"

_Danny: I should have known from how I felt_

_When we were together_

"Lucy! Where are you?!"

_Danny: And even more when we were apart_

The crowd spread out as Mrs. Matthews stepped out of her car and into Laney's spotlight.

"Is that Love Händel?!"

_Danny: You tiptoed in_

_And you got under my skin_

_You snuck your way right into my heart_

Laney moved the spotlight over to Mr. Matthews, who was holding the dead rose and smiling warmheartedly. Mrs. Matthews walked up to him and lifted his chin.

"I don't believe it. You didn't forget after all?"

"What? No! Of course not! I could never forget our anniversary! What do you think I am? Stupid?"

Mrs. Matthews gave a suspicious grin.

"Well…it might have slipped my mind just a little…"

Jackie's mother snickered. "Well, this is definitely more than enough to make up for it. I'm just surprised you managed to get this all done by yourself."

Mr. Matthews blushed and glanced at his daughters. "Well, actually, I had a little help."

Jackie looked at Tracy and gave her a smirk. But she just glared.

"Remember the deal, shrimp! No Grojnoise for a whole week!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I know." Jackie spoke into an earpiece set. "Prepare for live feed to screen and…wipe the source!"

Mr. and Mrs. Matthews' faces were shown on the screen above the band.

_Danny: I've put up barriers_

_To shield my emotions_

_A wall that you could never break apart_

_But like a ninja of love_

_Rappelling down from above_

_You snuck your way right into my heart_

_Oh yeah_

Jackie's parents held each other close and slowly rocked back and forth. Then suddenly, they noticed the light above them flashing. The couple looked up and saw Laney holding a megaphone.

"Well don't just stand there! Kiss her!"

Mr. Matthews turned back to his wife. "Happy anniversary darling…"

And the two kissed passionately. Everybody in the crowd cheered.

_Danny: C'mon everybody! Let me hear ya!_

_Crowd: Nah Na Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nah_

Kin came outside with his firecracker.

"Yes! Almost time for the finale!" the keyboardist was about to press the firecracker's launch button when Jackie bumped into him.

"Oh my gosh! Sorry Kin! I'm such a klutz!" she helped him stand.

Kin blushed deep red. "Oh no! That's okay Jackie. It's my fault anyway. I shouldn't have gotten in your way like that. You know me. I'm always making silly mistakes."

Jackie chuckled. "You're funny."

Kin chuckled too but in a more nervous manner.

"So, what do you think? About Love Händel, I mean. They sound good right?"

"Yeah. But not as good as you and the guys."

Kin continued to blush and chuckle. "Oh Jackie, you flatter me."

"Don't get me wrong though. Love Händel is a talented band and everything. It's just that there's one thing that would make it sound even better."

"Really? W-What's that?"

Jackie poked Kin's nose. "A keyboard player."

Kin squealed and hearts popped out of him.

Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews were still sharing a sweet and tender kiss. Mr. Matthews opened his eyes and nearly had a heart attack when he noticed Jackie standing with Kin alone. Quickly, he pushed his wife off of him.

"Uh, honey? I just remembered! I forgot to get the celebratory wine! If you could just excuse me-"

"Paul! Where are you going?"

Mr. Matthews stormed through the crowd with an angry look on his face.

"Jackie?" Kin said.

Jackie moved closer. "Yes Kin?"

"I…I've been meaning to tell you something for a while…um…I…I…"

"I knew it!" a voice interrupted the short black-haired boy.

Mr. Matthews entered the scene and pointed a finger at Kin.

"I knew you were nothing but trouble!"

"Dad! What are you doing?" Jackie exclaimed.

Mr. Matthews started to examine his daughter. "Jackie! Oh honey, did that simpleton hurt you?"

"What? No! Why would he-"

"Because if he did, he's toast!"

"Eek!" Kin yelped.

"Dad! Please!"

"What are you trying to pull here, Wise Guy?"

Kin broke into a nervous sweat. "Um, um, I-"

"Oh don't act like I don't know what you're up to, four-eyes! I know all about you and your crazy little experiments that you wanna perform on my daughter!"

Jackie tugged on her dad's arm. "Dad! Stop it!"

"You think you know everything! You think you have such a huge brain, don't ya?"

Kin gulped. "Well, um, I-"

"Well here's an idea! Why don't you use that big brain of yours to actually do something sensible? Like staying away from my precious little girl? Hm?"

"Dad!"

Kin backed away from the tall, angry man.

"Look, I-I'm really sorry! I didn't mean-"

"Sorry? Oh no! You're not sorry! You're not sorry at all! But let me tell you, you're going to be!"

"No! Please don't hurt me!"

But just as things were about to get ugly, Kin accidentally backed into his giant firecracker and got his arm stuck inside one of the rubber bands wrapped around it. To make matters worse, when he tried to pull his arm out, he accidentally hit the launch button. Smoke came out from the bottom of the firecracker.

"Uh-oh…" Kin said right before he flew into the air with a blast of fire.

Jackie and her father watched in shock as Kin screamed in absolute terror. Nobody else heard him though, because they were too busy listening to Danny playing one last guitar solo.

**KA-BOOM!**

The firecracker created a heart-shaped explosion and Kin plummeted back to earth. Kon ran up and caught his brother just in time. The kid scientist was covered with ashes and his hair was a mess. He coughed up some dust.

"Well Kon, I never thought I'd say this, but maybe you were right. Maybe Jackie and I will never start dating."

"Because she doesn't love you and never will?" Kon answered.

"No…because there's another man standing in my way…"

Kin looked out into the crowd and saw Mr. Matthews giving him a threatening glare while dragging Jackie away.

"Didn't know Jackie already had a boyfriend." Kon said stupidly.

Kin just groaned and facepalmed.

Danny strummed one final chord on his guitar and did a stage dive. The crowd cheered immensely.

"Goodnight Tranquil Town!" he shouted. "And…"

Corey put a finger on Danny's lips.

"Uh, uh, uh! That's my thing! Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey shut the garage door.

* * *

**30 original scenarios left! 18 slots available!**

**Sorry if the ending was a bit rushed. I was really eager to get this thing done. Anyway, I know I said that I was done with school and everything, but I actually have to take a class this summer so when that comes up, I will have to put my focus back into my schoolwork. The good news is, I have a few weeks before the class starts so that should give me time to work on more chapters. For now I'm just letting you know that during the month of June and July, I'm going to be busy again, so try to be patient. Again. Okay, that's all I have to say. See you next time!**


	67. Regarding Jackie

**Thanks for being so patient with me guys! As your reward, here's the next chapter which is based off of a scenario given to me via private message by PretzelNinja:**

**"Corey and/or Jackie get amnesia and forget who they are and Grojband. The rest of the band try to help them regain there memory."**

**He/She actually gave me three scenarios, but I decided to go with this one because it was the easiest one for me to write. Hope all of you enjoy it! PS: Sorry it's so long!**

* * *

**Chapter 67**

**Regarding Jackie**

It was the day after Jackie's parents anniversary. Grojband was chilling out in the garage watching something on TV while they waited for Jackie to come down and help them practice.

Corey heard rummaging from behind him and turned around to see Kin digging through a box.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

"Oh, just going through some of my old unfinished inventions." Kin told his leader. "Figured it was time to bring back all of the old memories and add some new touches to em."

Laney smirked. "By any chance, would those 'unfinished' inventions be the same inventions that you did end up finishing but were complete failures?"

"Hey! They weren't failures!" Kin argued. "Some of them just had a few bugs."

"Oh really?" Kon took what looked like a simple nail file out of the box. "What about this automatic nail file? It's not even electronic and it still almost exploded Jackie's bedroom!"

"Come to think of it Kin, every single one of your inventions has messed up in some way." Laney added.

"Like this one." Kon pulled out a busted hair dryer. "The Hair-Do-Well 4000. Not only did it fail to give Jackie a good hairdo, it made such a mess that her new hairdo made her the laughing stock at the school dance."

Kon showed his twin a photo of Jackie in a dress with messy burnt out hair.

"Hairdo? More like scaredo!" Laney remarked.

Kin blushed. "Okay, I may have had a little bad luck with that one…"

Corey came over and dug through the box.

"What about your homemade automatic toothbrush? Because of this thing, three of Jackie's teeth got holes in them. And it was actually because she brushed her teeth!"

"Well…"

"Oh, and let's not forget the remote-controlled desk chair!" Laney pulled out a rolly chair with a remote. "What were you even thinking with that one?"

"It was so Jackie could move around without having to get her beautiful feet all sweaty."

"Well it would have been useful after the remote got busted and Jackie fell down a whole flight of stairs and broke her leg!"

"Kind of ironic when you think about it." Kon mentioned.

"…Anyway Kin, the point we're trying to make here is, everything that's in this box has either broken, blown up, and/or has caused the rest of us physical pain." Corey explained.

"What? No way! That's not true at all! Here! Let me see!" Kin took the box from Corey and emptied it on the floor. "There's gotta be at least one thing in here that I haven't messed up on! Nope, not that one…that one didn't work either…no…no…no…n-ah-ha! Here's one that hasn't exploded yet! Look! My Memory Eraser 500!"

"You mean the rubber mallet?" Kon questioned.

"I wondered where this thing went! I've been meaning to test this baby out for months! Guess I never got around to it."

Laney chuckled. "Even still, most likely it's going to end up being a disaster. As usual."

"Oh yeah?" Kin replied. "I bet it won't! I bet this time it will work! I'll show you! I'll show all of you!"

Corey whispered to Laney. "You really think it won't work? I could have sworn some of his ideas worked out for a little bit."

"I never said it wouldn't work. I just said it was going to end in a disaster. Like all of his inventions do."

"Oh…in that case, I'm with you."

The door to the garage opened and Jackie stepped in.

"Hey, what's up guys?"

"Hi Jackie!" Corey, Laney, and Kon waved.

Kin became flustered. "Heh, heh…hi…"

"So, are you guys ready to rock your socks off?"

"You bet!" Corey responded. "Of course, I'm the only one with actual visible socks, but who cares? It's less laundry to do anyway."

"Oh, I'm afraid your grody socks will be staying on your grodier feet today, Beanie Boy!"

The gang turned around and saw Tracy standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here Tracy?" Jackie faced the older girl. "Can't you see we're about to rehearse?"

"Um, I don't think so." Tracy poked her sister's nose. "We had a deal, remember? I helped you with Mom and Dad's anniversary surprise yesterday. So now in return, your band will not be making their noise in our garage today. Or tomorrow. Or for the rest of the week!"

"Aw man!" Corey facepalmed. "I completely forgot about the aforementioned agreement we made in the last chapter!"

"Shocking." Tracy noted sarcastically. "So remember, squirt. No noises are to come from this garage! Otherwise, I'll be forced to silence you and your little band of geeks!"

Jackie looked over at Grojband and smiled.

"Yeah. Sure. No problem, sis. We hear you loud and clear."

"Well for the sake of your lips, I'd better not hear you at all!"

With that said, the teenager stormed out.

"Well, guess we won't be playing a gig this week." Corey said disappointedly.

"Don't worry guys." Jackie winked. "I already thought of everything."

Tracy walked to her room where Macy was waiting on her bed.

"Ha! Can you believe it Mace? I actually got my sister and her lousy band to shut up for the entire week! This is gonna be the most eventful and least annoying time of my whole life!"

"Really? Cool!" Macy paused. "So…what are we doing today?"

"Oh, I've prepared a little schedule…" Tracy rolled out a long list. "Let's see here…ah! Here we go! '10:15 am: have Macy clip my totally cute toenails'!"

Macy looked at Tracy's toes and cringed. Tracy sat down in front of the nerdette and handed her a pair of nail trimmers.

"Oh, and there better not be any edges left when you're done! My nails need to be perfectly straight or some junk! Like hunky Rick Salary's!"

Macy closed her eyes and leaned toward Tracy's big toe. She was about to trim the nail when they both heard loud music coming from outside.

"Eek!" Macy shrieked and accidentally clipped Tracy's nail. This caused it to bounce around the whole room until finally, it hit Tracy's forehead and stuck to it. Tracy removed the nail and growled ferociously. She opened the window to her room and was angered to see Jackie outside with Grojband playing in the driveway.

"Hey shrimp!" Tracy yelled.

"Oh. Hi Tracy. Is there a problem?" Jackie snickered along with Grojband.

"I thought I told you that your loser band couldn't play!"

"No. You just said they couldn't play in the garage. And we're not in the garage!"

"Oh yeah!" Corey high-fived Jackie. "Loopholes!"

"She's so clever…" Kin sighed.

Tracy growled again and slammed her window shut.

"Arrgh! Is it too much to ask to have a little sister who actually does what you say, always tries to make you happy, and never, ever, EVER disagrees with you? EVER?!"

"Um, I thought that's what I was for?" Macy muttered.

"Uh, last I checked we weren't related, so zip it, non-sister!"

Macy gave a sad sigh.

**SHE'S NOT HER REAL SISTER!**

Grojband practiced their songs outside for a little while and then they decided to take a quick break.

"Gotta admit," Jackie began. "You guys sounded awesome just now."

"Well, when do we not?" Corey asked. "It's in our nature to be awesome, after all!"

Jackie giggled. "I guess that's true. But…"

"But what?"

"I feel like there is one thing that just didn't seem right while you guys were playing…"

"What?!" Corey panicked. "What'd I do? Was it my pitch? Did my chords sound wrong? I always have trouble at that one spot…"

"Relax Core. You sounded fine. Actually, I think it was Kin."

Kin gasped. "Me? I…I-I don't…I don't understand!"

"Yeah, there was just something about the way you were playing…it…it didn't sound like it usually does…"

Kin's eyes welled up with tears. "But…how could that happen? I…I've impressed you with my keyboard skills for as long as I can remember!"

"I don't know." Jackie shrugged. "This time it just sounded like something was weighing you down."

"Oh yeah…" Kin sniffed. "Something's weighing me down all right…my sorrow…the deep sorrow of your disappointment in me…the feeling of hopelessness that I have just now acquired because I have failed you…the agony of never again seeing your smiling face as I stroke the keys on my keyboard…it's as if…my life has no meaning anymore!"

The boy burst into tears. Kon rolled his eyes and pulled his brother's memory eraser out of his pocket.

"Calm down. It's just your rubber mallet, you big baby."

Kin stopped crying and took the mallet from Kon. "Oh. I knew that. Well, if that's the case, I'll just go put this away until we're finished-whoa!"

As Kin was walking back to the garage, he accidentally tripped over a rock, causing the Memory Eraser to go flying out of his hands. In super slow motion. Kin looked up with a horrified expression.

"Noooooooooooo….!"

The mallet made its way toward Jackie.

"Jaaaacckkkiiieee…looookkk ouuuuttt…!"

Jackie did a very slow turnaround as the Memory Eraser made contact with her head and knocked her out. She fell to the ground with a loud thud.

The band quickly rushed to their friend's side.

"Jacks! Are you okay?" Laney wailed.

"Oh my gosh! Jackie, I am so sorry!" Kin shouted tearfully. "It was an accident! My Memory Eraser was…I mean it…it just slipped out of my hand and then…oh quit making excuses, Kin! You know this is your fault! Stupid clumsy demeanor! You were always so good at hurting me and now you're becoming skilled at hurting the one I love most?! Shame on you!"

"Wait, you seriously love Jackie more than anyone else?" Kon felt hurt but Kin acted like he didn't hear him and got down on his knees.

"Oh Jackie! Wherever you are right now, please forgive me for all of the pain I put you through! Even though I never got to tell you my feelings, at least now I know you'll be happy in whatever eternal realm you've landed in! I…I…"

"Hey! Dr. Drama Queen!" Laney called. "Instead of standing over there talking to yourself, why don't you come help us wake up our manager?"

"Yeah Kin, maybe she just needs…" Corey snickered. "…mouth-to-mouth!"

"Mouth-to-mouth?" Kin's eyes turned to hearts. "Why didn't you say so?!"

The black-haired boy shoved the others away and pinned Jackie's arms down. He leaned in to kiss her just as Jackie started to regain consciousness.

"Mm…ah…hm?" she opened her eyes.

Kon lifted Kin up by the shirt collar.

"Wha? Hey!"

"Never mind. She's awake." Kon smiled smugly.

"Aww…"

Jackie held her head as she struggled to sit up. Grojband came over to help her.

"Jackie! Are you okay?" Kin worried.

Jackie looked over at Kin and blinked a few times. Then she looked at the rest of the gang with a blank expression. She opened her mouth slightly but didn't say anything.

"Jackie?" Kin said again. "Jackie! Say something!"

"…Jackie?" she finally answered. "Who's…Jackie?"

"What?"

Jackie got up and began to take note of her surroundings.

"Where am I? What is this place? Why am I here? And more importantly, who are you guys?"

"Wait, you don't remember?" Laney questioned.

"Remember what, strange little boy with red hair?"

"What?! I'm not a boy! I expect you of all people to know that!"

"Sorry, but I don't…"

"Okay, what's going on here?"

Kin picked up the rubber mallet and gasped, finally figuring it out.

"The Memory Eraser 500…when it hit her head, it must have erased her memory! Completely! It works…it works!" he laughed in Laney's face. "See? I told you! Not all of my inventions are failures! I was right! In your face! Bam!"

It was then the scientist came upon a realization.

"Wait a minute…oh no! Jackie's lost her memory?! This is a disaster!"

"Which means, I was also right." Laney grinned.

Meanwhile, Tracy and Macy were stepping outside so they could attempt to 'discipline' Jackie and the band.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to pin those guys down so you can whack their instruments with a baseball bat?" Macy asked.

"Ugh. No Macy. Do you even listen? You're going to pin them down so I can whack their heads with a baseball bat!"

"Oh…that would make a bit more sense."

Tracy placed her finger on Macy's lips. "Shh! Hold on! I hear something!"

They both ducked behind some bushes and peeked their heads out.

"Oh man, oh man…" Kin paced back and forth. "This is bad! Jackie's lost her memory! She doesn't know her name, she doesn't know where she lives, and worst of all, she doesn't know who we are! What are we gonna do you guys?"

"Hey, don't ask us!" Corey argued. "It was your invention that made her forget everything in the first place!"

"What's this?" Tracy smiled wickedly. "That twerp of a sister of mine has lost her memory, has she? Ooh…this is too good to be true! Macy? Remember what I said before about not having a sister who does whatever I say?"

"Uh…yeah."

"Well, it looks like today I'm finally going to get one…" she giggled evilly.

"Okay, I think I have an idea." Corey stated. "Why don't you just hit her on the head with that hammer thingy again so she can regain her memory? It always works in cartoons."

"Hit her on the head again?! Are you crazy?!" Kin cried. "I feel guilty enough hitting her by accident! Can you imagine how much worse I'll feel if I do it on purpose? Besides, the Memory Eraser 500 doesn't work like that. Instead of restoring her memory, a second hit will just make the memory loss worse. It may come to a point where she forgets simple concepts, like eating, walking, and talking!"

"Hold on! How do you know all of this? You said you've never tested that thing until now!" Laney reminded him.

"…Well…um…it's kind of like…see…" Kin shook his head. "Look, just forget it! I'm not hitting Jackie again and I'm not going to let any of you do it either!"

"Okay Mr. Smarty Pants, then how are we supposed to get her memory back, huh? We can't just leave her like…that!" Corey pointed at Jackie, who was running her hands through his beanie.

"Wow…this thing on your head is so soft, guy with blue hair…can I try it on?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Corey smacked her hand away. "First thing you gotta remember, nobody touches the beanie!"

"Corey!" Kin scolded before pulling everyone except Jackie into a huddle. "Listen to me and listen good! As long as Jackie's memory is gone, we all have to be careful about what we say and do in front of her! Most people who suffer from memory loss regain knowledge of their friends by their first impressions of them! Meaning if we do something that seems mean or unprofessional, she's going to think we're mean or unprofessional."

Kon scoffed. "C'mon! Jackie knows us well enough! She won't judge us for the things we do!"

"It's like you're not even listening…" Kin groaned. "Okay, here's the plan. We're going to sit her down, tell her exactly what happened, then we're going to engage in meaningful conversation so she gets a sense of who we are. The sooner she remembers us, the sooner she'll remember everything else! But you have to watch what you say to her. Because she can't remember anything, and therefore doesn't know who she trusts, she's going to believe whatever anyone tells her. That's why we're going to tell her the truth. Got it?"

"Wait!" Corey interrupted. "A hypothetical question. Say I told Jackie that I was the king of rock-and-roll? Would she believe me?"

"…Yes…"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Kon raised his hand. "And what if I told her I was a drumming titan? Would she go for it?"

"Guys, c'mon! I said we were going to tell Jackie the truth, remember? Just because she's in a very gullible state right now doesn't mean we can put a bunch of lies and exaggerations in her head! I mean sure she'll most likely believe me if I tell her I'm her boyfriend but…" Kin paused. "…Hey…that actually sounds like a good idea…hey guys? Maybe it wouldn't hurt if we stretched the truth just a little-"

"Dude! Seriously?" Laney lectured. "Are you that desperate for Jackie's affections that you have to lie to her to make them happen? That's like seeping to a new low!"

"Aw c'mon! Wouldn't you do the same thing if Corey lost his memory?"

Laney blushed. "…Maybe…"

"Wha?" Corey went.

"Look, forget it! Let's just go get Jackie and refresh her memory so we can finally move on with our-" Kin froze when he found out that Jackie was gone. "Uh, guys? Where's Jackie?"

"Not sure. She was here a minute ago." Corey recalled. "I think she was over by the grass admiring the 'strange yellow things' growing out of it."

"Jackie's dad really needs to mow the yard." Kon observed.

"Hey look!" Laney found an empty bottle lying in the driveway.

"Is that a bottle of nail polish?" Corey asked.

"Yeah, but by the looks of it…it's not just any nail polish…" Laney read the label on the bottle. "It's 'Sassy but Cool' blue. The rarest polish in existence."

"And you know this how?" Corey inquired.

"Uh, no reason!" Laney replied nervously. "Word gets around, you know. Anyway, there's only one girl who would use this! Tracy!"

"Tracy?! Oh no!" Kin worried. "She must have heard about Jackie's amnesia and is probably trying to fill her head with a bunch of lies! She's probably gonna say we're a bunch of no-talent freaks! Or maybe we're aliens from some distant faraway planet…or worse…what if she says that we're…we're…"

"Liars?" Jackie repeated.

"That's right!" Tracy nodded leading Jackie into her room. "They're nothing but dirty, disgusting, low-on-the-social-ladder liars!"

"Wow…I never would have guessed it. They seemed so nice at first…"

"Well you can't always judge people by their appearances. Take me for example. I may look like the kind of person who would trick you. Someone who would love to use you as her own personal flunky and would love it even more to make you upset. But unlike those bozos outside, I can actually be trusted."

"Really?"

"Mm-hm. So if anybody else tells you that you're really a band manager, don't believe it. Because they're lying! Everyone is a liar except for me. I'll tell you what you really are."

"Okay! So, what am I?"

"Easy! You're a servant girl! And I am your master! You do everything I tell you to without question, you're always super friendly to me no matter how rude I behave in return, and most importantly…you're the worst enemy of those filthy liars…Grojband!"

"Whoa…cool! I love my life already!" Jackie exclaimed.

"Hm. That blow to your head must have made you stupider too. That reminds me." Tracy turned to Macy. "Macy? You're fired!"

"Wait, I'm what?"

"GET OUT!" Tracy screamed and Macy ran out the front door just as Grojband was entering.

"Jackie!" Kin ran to the girl he loved. "There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you! Listen, it's come to our attention that you've lost your memory. So we're going to remind you of who we are."

"Oh, that's okay. I already know who you are."

"You do?"

"Uh-huh!" Jackie got in Kin's face. "You're a loser!"

"…W-What?"

"You're all losers!" Jackie pointed to the other three band members. "Tracy is the coolest! I'm sticking by her side from now on!"

Grojband gasped.

"So why don't you just go back to your grody instruments and practice your unlisten-to-able noises? Tracy and I have cool people things to do!" Jackie walked into Tracy's room. "Later Garbojband!"

Grojband's mouths dropped to the floor.

"I taught her everything she knows…" Tracy laughed evilly and followed her sister into her room.

"…What just happened?" Laney asked.

"It's our worst nightmare come true, Lanes…" Corey answered. "Jackie's gone…and in her place…is Tracy number two…"

"Can someone please wake me up so this bad dream can end?" Kon requested.

"Me first." Kin added.

**TRACY'S GOT A MINI-ME!**

A little while later, Jackie and Tracy were still hanging out in Tracy's room. Tracy was laid out on her bed reading a fashion magazine while Jackie was dusting her shelves.

"Wow, your room is the best Tracy! There's hardly anything to clean!"

"Well I did just have my ex-servant tidy it up a little while ago…" Tracy scratched her chin. "You know, ol What's-Her-Name."

"Oh yeah. I hardly got to meet her."

"Meh. Don't worry about it. She was a lost cause anyway. Barely did anything for me."

"Well, I can totally do a much better job than her! Because no matter what you ask of me, I'll always do whatever I can to please you!"

"Pfft. Right. You couldn't please an ape even if you had a stash of bananas…"

Jackie put down her feather duster. "Well, I'm all done Tracy! So what do you want me to do now?"

Tracy pulled a long list out of her pocket.

"Well let's see, according to my schedule, me and my ex-minion, so-and-so, were supposed to go to the salon to get a pedicure after my nails were properly trimmed. But seeing as how she quit on me and you can't drive yet, you'll just have to give me a pedicure yourself!"

"Really? Oh Tracy I'd be honored to-"

"Um, that's Miss Tracy to you. Now get moving, pipsqueak! And keep your dirty fingernails away from my soles. Or else!"

Jackie saluted. "Yes ma'am Miss Tracy ma'am!"

"That's more like it…" the evil girl smiled and cackled quietly.

Grojband watched from the door with concerned looks.

"Well, this has just gone from bad to worse." Laney stated.

"Cheer up gang! There's no way Jackie will be able to stand Tracy's aggravating persona forever!" Corey theorized. "It's only a matter of time before she gets so annoyed that she quits on Tracy and comes crawling back to us!"

"Ow!" Tracy slapped Jackie's hand. "Your stupid fingernail poked my toe, you clod! You're even worse than my last whiny drone!"

"I'm sorry Miss Tracy. I'll try to do better next time."

"Better nothing! You'll do it perfectly! Do you understand? Now like, get back to work, you obnoxious worm!"

Jackie nodded and continued to file Tracy's nails.

"Wow, she's practically groveling to join us again…" Laney sarcastically claimed.

Corey shrugged. "Hey, like I said, it's only a matter of time. So let's just wait a little while longer. I'm sure things will work out for us eventually!"

"Well, we should probably have a back-up plan just in case." Kin suggested. "I don't want Jackie to be stuck working for her monstrous sister forever!"

"Yeah, it'll take a while for her to get used to her perpetually stinky feet." Kon added as he and the others went back to the garage.

About an hour later, Jackie was finished with Tracy's pedicure.

"All done Miss Tracy!"

Tracy put down her magazine and scoffed.

"Finally! What took you so long? Speed is something I grade my drones on, you know!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Miss Tracy, but you see, I wanted to make sure your nails looked perfect, so I took my time so I could work in every detail."

"Ha! As if I don't know what that means! You're saying that it took you a while because my nails weren't perfect! Well they are! Which is why it shouldn't have taken you more than two minutes to make them perfecter! So you failed that portion of the test!"

"Aww…well can you at least tell me how I did quality-wise? I could really use your feedback!"

"Ugh. Fine." Tracy looked at her toenails which were sparkly, shiny and colorful. "Meh. It'll do I guess. I give it a D."

"D for Delightful?"

"Sure. Whatever floats your boat or whatever."

"Yes! So does that mean I'm the best lackey you've ever had?"

Tracy laughed. "Best lackey ever? Kid, you've gotta work way harder if you wanna achieve that status. Like, way harder."

"Oh." Jackie frowned. "Well, what do you have in mind?"

Tracy pulled out her list again.

"Well let's see…first things first, my wardrobe needs reorganizing…I want all of my dresses color-coded, my shirts should be in alphabetical order by the printing on them, the jeans need to be ordered by length, and-"

"Done!"

Tracy looked up and gasped when she saw her closet looking neat and tidy.

"Wow…I mean, uh, too easy!" she looked at the list. "I also need my laundry done."

A laundry basket full of clean clothes was shoved in Tracy's face.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted the colors and whites separated or not, so I washed two loads just to be safe." Jackie explained. "Oh, and I also used extra fabric softener for the cloth items and lavender-scented dryer sheets."

Tracy smelled one of her shirts and her eyes widened.

"Well, it's still not that impressive. If you really want to prove you're worthy, why don't you repaint my room?"

Jackie immediately got a roller and a bucket of pink paint and with great speed, she painted the entire room.

Tracy's mouth dropped in awe.

"I did good, right?"

"Hmph! I guess it's okay. I still think it would have looked better in sky blue. No matter. I'm sure there's one job on this list that you can't do. Let's see…how about-?"

"I did that already."

"Well you can-"

"It's finished."

"There's-"

"Done and done!"

Tracy scrolled through the list until she got to the bottom. She was shocked to find that Jackie had finished every single chore that she had written down.

"No way…I can't believe I'm saying this but…you're actually doing a decent job at this!"

"Really?" Jackie blushed. "Aw shucks ma'am, it was nothing!"

"Yeah, you're right. Even with how fast you work, you still don't meet up to my standards. Tell you what kid, I've got another project for you." Tracy headed for the door and Jackie followed.

"Ooh! Do I get to braid your hair? Wax your legs? Do your homework?"

"Even better! We're going to play one of my favorite games…it's called…Anguish and Suffering."

"Sounds fun! How do you play?"

"Easy! The object of the game is to see who makes people the most miserable! And I know just who our little playmates should be…"

Inside the garage, Kon and Laney were watching a show on TV. Tracy and Jackie snuck in and hid where they couldn't see them.

"Okay shrimp, listen up! There are three levels to this game. Since you're a beginner, we'll start you off at Level 1: Aggravation."

Tracy got up, walked over to the TV, and stood directly in front of it, blocking Kon and Laney's view. Kon leaned to the side, trying to ignore the obnoxious teenager, but she kept moving into his sightline.

"Hey! I can't see!" he complained.

"Oh, I'm like so sorry. Am I bothering you? Because if I am, I won't be leaving anytime soon!" Tracy giggled.

Laney and Kon tried to look past her, but Tracy continued to get in the way.

"Stop it!" Kon demanded.

Tracy just chuckled. "Gosh, if I had known this show was so important to you, I would have stopped you from enjoying it ages ago!"  
Laney rolled up her sleeves.

"Okay, that does it!"

The red-head charged for the raven-haired girl, but she moved out of the way at the last second and Laney hit her head against the TV. Tracy laughed hysterically and so did Jackie.

"Good one! But I bet I can do one better than that!" the brunette snuck up behind Kon and snatched the TV remote from him.

"Hey! Give that back!"

Jackie giggled and tossed the remote to Tracy. "Keep away!"

Kon ran over to Tracy, but she threw it back Jackie's way. The two sisters continued to throw the remote back and forth between Kon until he got too tired to keep attempting to get it back. The drummer panted and fell to the floor in complete exhaustion.

"Not bad, kid." Tracy admitted. "I think you're ready for Level 2:…Pain!"

The girls opened the garage door and saw Corey and Kin outside in the driveway. The former was tuning his guitar, and the latter was flying a remote-controlled airplane. Tracy and Jackie crept up behind Corey and Tracy started whispering.

"Now, one thing you gotta know about pain is that it comes in many varieties…But my personal favorite is…" Tracy yanked Corey up by his underpants.

"Yow!" he shrieked.

"Wedgies!"

"Ooh! Yep! That's uncomfortable! Ow! Ow! Won't be feeling that for weeks!"

Kin turned around and gasped.

"Oh, I get it! You mean like this?" Jackie proceeded to give Kin a wedgie.

"Gah!" he yelped. "Oh…she's so…strong! Honestly, I don't know whether I should be crying because of how painful this is, or squealing because I have Jackie's fingerprints on my underwear now."

Jackie stretched even harder.

"Hello! Yeah, that's a stretch! Literally!"

"If you think that's funny, check this out!" Tracy pulled the underwear over Corey's eyes.

"Whoa! Where'd everybody go?"

"Cool! I wanna try!" Jackie did the same thing with Kin.

"Hey! Who turned out the lights?"

Because they couldn't see, the two rockers ended up bumping into each other. Jackie and Tracy continued to laugh hysterically. Laney and Kon came outside and were horrified to see the girls picking on their bandmates. They rushed over to help them out.

"Now it's time for the best part of the game." Tracy pulled out a lasso and tied up the band. "Level 3: Humiliation!"

Grojband shivered as Tracy handed Jackie a briefcase and they both closed in on them. A few minutes later, they were decked out in clown wigs and makeup.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Laney mumbled.

Tracy pulled out her phone. "Smile for the media, bozos!"

**SNAP!**

Sure enough, as soon as the picture was posted online, Buster Newsworthy and Destiny Providence were doing a news report on it.

"To those of you who thought Grojband was a bunch of clowns, now you know for sure!" Destiny said.

"As of today, the band's popularity has dropped in great numbers." Buster reported. "But this picture certainly has made them more laughable!"

"You said it Buster! From now on whenever we need a laugh, let's just go to one of their concerts!"

The two laughed hardily.

Grojband was sitting on the couch watching the news report when they heard laughter from outside the garage. Corey opened the garage door and saw a huge group of people pointing and laughing at the band.

"Look Ma!" a boy cried. "The circus is in town!"

A cream pie hit Laney in the face and she angrily slammed the door shut.

"Urgh! I don't believe this! We're the laughing stock of the entire town! And it's all because of that rotten Tracy and her mini-minion!"

"Laney, it's not Jackie's fault." Kin replied. "Tracy's making her do all this mean stuff. She's polluted her erased, fragile brain with untruths and thoughts of her own."

"Oh sure! You're just saying that because you want me to take it easy on her!" Laney was about to storm to Tracy's room but Corey held her back.

"Whoa there fella! Maybe Kin is right. Jackie can't help acting all jerkish if Tracy is influencing her. She doesn't know that she's put her trust in the wrong person. But you are right about one thing. This pain and humiliation needs to end! We've gotta snap Jackie out of it and help her get her memory back!"

"But how?" Kin inquired. "Tracy's already got her to believe that everyone except her is a liar! What are we supposed to do?"

"Perhaps I can help…" a voice came out of nowhere, causing the gang to jump.

"Who-who said that?" Corey stuttered. "Who are you?"

"Let's just say…I'm an old acquaintance who's back for revenge…"

"Oh man! It's true! The garage really is haunted!" Kon panicked and everyone screamed.

"What? No it isn't! Look, it's me! Macy!"

Grojband opened their eyes and were surprised to see the red-headed nerdette standing in their garage.

"…Oh. Hey Macy." Corey waved. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, considering my 'best friend' fired and replaced me with someone she constantly antagonizes, I figured there wasn't really any other place I could go."

"And you chose to hang out with us why?" Laney raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, don't you have a brother or something?" Kon mentioned.

"Are you kidding? He hardly spends any time with me now that the Newmans are his friends. Plus, I figured you would need some help." Macy held up a newspaper. "I saw that embarrassing picture of you guys in the paper. As soon as I put my eyes on it, I knew that it was Tracy's doing. After all, I don't know anyone else who would want to embarrass you."

"But why would you want to help us?" Laney asked.

"Because just like Jackie has betrayed you, Tracy has betrayed me! Before she came along, I was nothing! A drip! A social outcast! Every time I tried to make a new friend, I ended up getting laughed at! Tracy was the only one who accepted me! The only one who wanted me around! The only one who talked to me and asked for my advice. Even if it was with a harsh tone. But not only that, with Tracy around, I was popular! I was forever known as the girl who hangs out with the nastiest student in school! It was such a glorious title that I wanted to hold on to it for the rest of my life. But now that Jackie is serving Tracy, she doesn't need me anymore. So once again, I'm all alone. And I can't even count on my favorite little brother to help me out either, since he's so busy with his band. It's a sad cruel existence that I lead…"

Grojband stood still and blinked a few times.

"…Anyway, the point is: You want Jackie back and I want to be Tracy's best friend again. Which in our case is almost asking for the same thing."

"So what do you propose we do?" Laney folded her arms.

"Well, let's think. Jackie's acting like a jerk to you because she's forgotten all those fun memories you shared with her. So…maybe if we help her find those memories again, she'll go back to normal."

Corey beamed. "Yeah! She needs to remember who she really is! Our number one fan! And it just so happens that her room is filled with posters of us! Once she steps in there, her memories will come back like that!" he snapped his fingers. "Let's roll gang! It's time to be remembered…"

**CHEESY LINE TRANSITION!**

Macy and Grojband were upstairs waiting for Jackie to come out of Tracy's room.

"Does anyone else think we hide stealthily a little too much in this story?" Laney asked.

"Yeah, but who's complaining?" Corey whispered.

"Shh! Someone's coming!" Kin warned.

Tracy's door opened and Jackie was pushed outside.

"Remember! You only get a five-minute lunch break! So don't waste it doing something stupid, got it?"

"Yes ma'am, Miss Tracy ma'am!" Jackie saluted.

"Quick! Open the door!" Corey ordered and Kon turned the doorknob to Jackie's room.

Jackie turned her head when she heard the door squeak and Grojband and Macy hid themselves from her sight line.

"Hey, what's this room?" Jackie reached for the doorknob and pushed the door open. She was surprised when she saw what looked like a hundred Grojband related items everywhere. "Whoa…"

The brunette took a good look around the room and Grojband and Macy watched her discreetly.

"What is all this?" she wondered aloud. "Could it be…yes! I think it is! Now I know!"

The band smiled brightly, believing that Jackie was starting to remember them. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

"Tracy must have put up these posters and stuff for target practice!" Jackie picked up a dart and threw it at one of the posters. "Bulls-eye!"

"Aww…" Kon whined in disappointment.

"Don't fret guys! We're not out of ammo yet!" Corey took out a book of old pictures.

Kin gasped. "Our photo album! All of our happiest memories are in there! Jackie's sure to remember us after looking at that!"

"Wait a minute…this is 2016. Why do we have our memories in an old-timey photo album instead of our phones?" Kon pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Because then we'd have to delete them when we run out of storage." Kin took the album and hugged it. "And I want to keep every single picture of Jackie's beautiful face…"

Corey took the album back and slid it into Jackie's room.

"Huh?" Jackie felt the book touch her foot and she picked it up. "What's this?

The others watched as she opened up the photo album and began looking through it. She came across many pictures depicting her and Grojband's adventures including the time travel incident, the Queen Bee pageant, and the world's largest candy apple from last Halloween. Jackie couldn't help but notice how happy she was in each photo and how Grojband, the ones whom she thought were her worst enemies, were right there with her. Then she flipped to the back and saw the biggest photo of them all which was a group picture of her and her former friends.

"No way…" she muttered to herself. "It's as if those Grojband freaks are meant to be…my friends…"

"We got her now guys!" Corey fist-pumped.

"…No!" Jackie tossed the photo album. "That's silly! No way am I friends with those geeks!"

"Darn!"

"So close…" Laney lamented.

"Well, I didn't think it would come to this, but it looks like I have no choice…I'm gonna need to bring out the heavy artillery!" Macy reached into her purse and pulled out a small pink book with a heart-shaped lock on it.

"Whoa…what is that?" Corey's eyes widened.

"It's a diary. But not just any diary. Jackie's diary!"

"Wait…Jackie's had a diary this whole time?" Laney replied.

"Yeah. Every week after she writes in it, Tracy makes me steal it from her room so I can read it to her and see if there's any gossip-like stories in it."

"Cool!" Corey snatched the diary away. "I wonder if this one has any lyrics we can use. Uh, not that we get lyrics from diaries…"

"Oh no you don't!" Kin took it. "We are not going to violate Jackie's privacy just so we can attain song words! But uh, just out of curiosity…" Kin got in Macy's face. "Has she said anything about me? Like something related to being madly in love with me?"

Laney pulled Kin back. "Hey! Focus Romeo!" she looked at Macy. "Do you really think giving her the diary will work?"

"Well maybe. But if there's one thing I know, it's that diaries always tell the truth…"

Macy threw the diary into Jackie's room and it landed beside her.

"Huh?" Jackie picked it up and read the front cover. "'My Diary by Jackie Matthews'"

"Bingo!" Macy celebrated quietly. "C'mon, let's give her some time alone to re-collect her thoughts."

"Man, I hope this works." Corey followed Macy.

"Yeah, can you imagine living with two Tracys forever?" Laney gagged.

Kin looked back into Jackie's room and watched her read her diary.

"Please come back Jackie. I miss you…" he said and then left.

Jackie opened her diary to an entry and read it to herself.

"_Dear Diary…Today was the greatest day! Me and Grojband went to the new amusement park near Tranquil Town Square. It was the best! We rode the Tummy Twister eight times in a row. Or at least as much as we could ride it before Kon got sick on Kin's head. Boy, was he mad about that. Guess he shouldn't have eaten all those funnel cakes before riding."_

She flipped to another entry.

"_Dear Diary…Today Grojband and I went to see the new zombie movie at Tranquil Theater. From what I heard, it was supposed to be really, really, REALLY scary. I was a little nervous because I've never seen a scary movie before, and I could tell Laney hadn't either. But Corey and Kin told us that if we got scared, they would be there to hold our hands. Funny thing is, when we saw the movie, they ended up being more scared than we were! They even jumped in their seats and clenched onto our arms. LOL. Boys can be such babies sometimes._"

Jackie giggled and continued reading more entries. Then she looked back at the photo album and looked through the pictures again. It was then that she felt some of her memories come back.

In the garage, Kin was pacing back and forth.

"Oh, I hope your plan worked, Macy."

"Me too." Macy nodded. "The sooner Tracy fires Jackie and takes me back, the better."

"That's for sure." Laney agreed. "At least you don't mimic Tracy's every move."

"Of course not! Then I'd stand out just as much as she does. And trust me, you don't want to stand out more than Tracy."

"Well, for both our sakes, let's pray we get our best friend back." Corey stated.

"You already have." someone replied from behind Corey.

Everyone turned around to see Jackie standing in the doorway, holding her diary.

Kin stepped up. "J-Jackie? Is it really you?"

"The one and only…Favorite keyboardist."

Kin squealed and squeezed his crush into a hug.

"She's back!"

The others ran up and hugged Jackie too. Macy smiled at how heartwarming the scene was.

"Jacks, you have no idea how glad we are to see you back to your old self!" Corey said.

"Trust me Core, you have no idea how happy I am to be my old self!"

"What's going on here?" Tracy's loud booming voice came out of nowhere.

Jackie and Grojband broke their hug and faced the snobby teen.

"Is that what I think it is? My loyal servant sharing a sappy sentiment with the enemy? I thought I taught you better than that, peewee! I think a severe punishment is in order. Get in my room and polish all my shoes, right now!"

Jackie crossed her arms. "No!"

"Wh-wh-what did you just say to me?"

"I said no! You're not my master, you're my sister! And I'm not doing what you say anymore! "

Tracy was shocked. "But-but-how did-"

Jackie showed Tracy the diary. "I learn by the book." she got in Tracy's face. "You tricked me! You got me to believe that these guys weren't my friends just so you could torment them! You made me think that they were liars! But now I know that the only real liar around here is you! So find yourself another servant, because this girl is sticking with her friends. Her real friends."

Tracy clenched her fists in anger. "Why you…you…"

"Yes!" Corey cheered. "We did it! Everything's back to the way it should be!"

"Yeah." Kin picked up the Memory Eraser 500. "Hard to believe all this trouble was caused by this little rubber mallet. Well no more! I'm gonna get rid of this thing once and for-wah!"

Just as the short scientist was about to dispose of his invention, he tripped and the mallet went flying once again. Macy gasped. Corey, Laney, and Kon gasped. Kin looked up and he gasped too. The Memory Eraser fell back down to earth and hit both Tracy and Jackie on the head, causing them to fall down.

"Tracy!" Macy wailed.

"Jackie!" Kin cried.

The band surrounded their manager while Macy went over to help her BFF.

"Oh no! What have I done?" Kin mourned. "Everything was going perfect! We finally got Jackie to remember us! And now she's lost her memory again! Why must I be such a klutz?!"

Jackie sat up and held her head.

"Jackie, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

The brown-haired teenager rubbed her head. "Ugh…forgive you for what Kin?"

"Huh?"

"Guys, what's going on? I thought we were rehearsing. And why does my head hurt so much?"

"Jackie!" Kin hugged her tightly. "You're back!"

Jackie gagged from Kin's strong hug. "Ack! Didn't know I left."

Kin let go and looked at the Memory Eraser. "I guess another whack on the head does restore memory after all! Things you don't know when you don't test your own creations."

"Well, I guess I should be mad that we didn't try that in the first place." Laney began. "But at this point, I'm just happy things are back to normal!"

"Okay…" Jackie stood up. "I still have no clue what you guys are talking about. But whatever! All I know is, we've got some rehearsing to do!"

"Woohoo! Yeah!" the band cheered.

Then suddenly, the five heard a groaning noise from behind them. It was coming from Tracy, who was being helped up by Macy.

"Tracy, are you okay?"

"Ugh…Tracy? Who's Tracy? And who are you? What is this place?"

"Not again…" Laney facepalmed.

"Who are those weird-looking guys?" Tracy pointed at Grojband. "Are we at the circus? Can somebody please tell me what's going on? And more importantly, who am I?"

Macy scratched her chin and grinned. "Hm…"

A little while later, Tracy was in her room giving Macy a foot massage.

"And after you're done with the laundry, you can shine my shoes, curl my hair, and re-polish my glasses!"

"Yes Miss Macy. Of course Miss Macy. I'll do anything for you Miss Macy."

"Aw, be quiet, drone."

Jackie and Grojband watched from a distance.

"So, how long is she gonna stay like that?" Laney asked Kin.

"Meh. She'll be back to normal once she reads her diary." Kin answered.

"Can't you just use your mallet thingy and fix her?" Kon wondered.

"Yeah, I could. But I figured we owe Macy a favor since she did help us get Jackie back and all."

"Okay, I'm still confused." Jackie claimed. "You guys have got some serious explaining to do."

"Sure thing Jacks. As long as you remember to remind us!" Corey winked. "Thanks for coming out everyone!"

* * *

**29 original scenarios left! 17 slots available!  
**

**Again, sorry for making you guys wait so long. Writer's block truly is a terrible thing. Hopefully I'll have an easier time with the next chapter since it's based on an episode of something. Hope all of you are having a great summer! See you next time! (Also, if you want the next chapter faster, remember to review!)**


	68. Hillbully

**Well, like I said before, this one was way easier for me to write. It only took me a week to finish which is something I'm very proud of. Don't think it's going to be a regular thing though. I've got another hard one after this so don't expect it to be out the day after tomorrow or something. This chapter is based off of a suggestion from Muffins are good:**

**"****Jackie's cousin is staying for a few days, and plays the nice act when Jackie is around but turns into a bully towards the band when she's gone along with the newmans, how will the band make Jackie figure out her cousin and could they make him a friend or another foe?**

**I got the idea based on a My Little Pony episode "One bad apple"**

**EEE! I love requests based on MLP episodes! This one was so much fun to write especially since I got to bring back some old (or not-so-old depending on your point of view) characters! Sorry to those of you who aren't MLP fans, but hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter anyway. So here it is! (PS: Props to anyone who can guess who Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon are cosplaying in the costume store scene)**

* * *

**Chapter 68**

**Hillbully**

One gorgeous afternoon, in a place that's quite far away from Tranquil Town, a boy was running back to his home. He was a young lad of thirteen, he had short, messy black hair, and he dressed as if he was raised on a farm. And while that may have been so, this boy also lived in one of the fanciest places of residence in his neighborhood. A mansion that was owned by the richest woman in the state. So rich in fact, that her mansion was completely made of diamonds. This boy was named Robert Winston Jr.

Robby ran through the front door carrying a soccer ball. He immediately went into the kitchen where his father, Robert Winston Sr. (also known as Uncle Bobby) was doing the dishes.

"Hey there buckaroo!" Bobby greeted. "How'd tryouts go?"

"They went great Pa! And guess what? I made the team!"

"What? No! You're kidding me! My boy Robby Winston, is actually gonna be a soccer star?"

"Yep! Aren't you proud of me Pop?"

"Proud of ya?" the father hugged his son. "Why I'm overjoyed for you, sport! You've worked so hard these past few months to make it this far! That's why I never doubted for a second that you would wow the coach with your amazing skills!"

Robby chuckled. "Gee, thanks Pa. Of course, I couldn't have done it without your overwhelming support."

"Aw shucks. Sure you could have. You were born with that incredible talent for scoring goals! Not to mention your iron gut and gold heart! Your mother, bless her soul, always knew you were destined for great things. And if she was still here, I'd bet anything that she'd be proud of you too."

Robby smiled. "Thanks Pa. Hey, I'm gonna go out and practice my outside hook for a little while."

"All righty then. But don't be too long. Supper'll be ready shortly! Oh, and don't forget, tomorrow you'll be going to your cousin Jackie's place, so make sure you get everything packed up!"

"Okay Pop!"

But as the chipper young lad was heading outside, he didn't realize that he was being followed by an evil, notorious pair. The nastiest, cruelest, most despicable twins outside of Tranquil Town. The perfect examples of a spoiled brat split in two. They were Robby's pretentious stepbrother and stepsister, Ben and Gwen.

The siblings followed Robby out the door and gave each other wicked grins. Robby was balancing his soccer ball on his knee when they came outside.

"My, my, sister. It appears that Mother's butlers forgot to take out the trash this morning."

"Oh is that so, brother? Then how do you explain the big pile of filth standing behind us?"

They both snickered. Robby put down his ball and turned to them.

"Oh, it's you two. What do you want?"

"Hm, that's so strange, dear sister. When did a pile of rubbish learn to talk?"

"C'mon guys. Cut it out."

"Ooh, what's this?" Gwen picked up Robby's soccer ball.

"Hey! Gimme that back!" Robby reached for the ball but Gwen pulled it away.

"With pleasure." Gwen used her sharpest nail to pop the ball and then she handed it back to her younger stepbrother. "Here you are."

"Hey! You wrecked it!"

"She didn't wreck it. It's an improvement." Ben explained. "Now you can have a toy that matches your personality: flat and useless!"

Robby glared as the twins laughed. "Would ya'll just leave me alone?"

"Ooh, 'ya'll'!" Gwen teased. "Did you hear that Ben? It's as if he was raised on a barn!"

"That's because he's a Barn Boy, Gwen."

Both of them pushed Robby into the mud.

"And he'll always be a Barn Boy!"

"Ooh, clever insult, my sinister sibling! A Barn Boy indeed!"

Robby got on his knees and tried to stand.

"Hey! Knock it off!" he shouted on the verge of tears.

"Barn Boy! Barn Boy! Robby is a Barn Boy!" Ben and Gwen sang.

"Stop it!"

"What's the matter, Hog-Breath? Afraid your little piggy friends might see you and laugh too?"

"Oh, you're not going to squeal on us are you?"

The mean-spirited duo continued to laugh. Tears streamed down Robby's cheeks.

"That ain't funny!" he stood back up and ran inside.

"Barn Boy! Barn Boy! Barn Boy!" Ben and Gwen called after him.

Robby ran all the way up to his room and slammed the door loudly. He slumped to the floor and covered his face as more tears streamed off it. It shouldn't come as a surprise that this wasn't the first time Ben and Gwen had picked on him. In fact, he had been bullied by them ever since he and his dad first moved in. He never told his dad though, since he was always told not to be a tattletale when he was little. Even still, bullying was something he just couldn't deal with. He remembered when he was five and the kids at school teased him for taking a blanket to class. It wasn't as bad as the teasing he dealt with now, but it was still difficult to handle. He thought he had escaped the bullying once he had left elementary school, but years later, after his mother passed on, his dad decided to marry a wealthy woman with two bratty kids. And that's when the teasing returned. As the boy wiped his tears away, he thought about how glad he would be once he left to see his cousin Jackie the next day. He always knew Jackie and her family to be nice and he also knew they would never make fun of him. Tracy was a big exception, but he planned to avoid socializing with her. Plus, he remembered how cool Jackie's band, Grojband, had been last Thanksgiving and was certain he could make friends with them. At that point, the country boy made a vow that for the next few weeks, he was not going to be bullied by anyone whatsoever. And if someone dared to bully him, he would do anything in his power to stop them.

The next morning, Robby had all of his things packed up and he was ready to head to Tranquil Town. He threw his backpack onto his back, gave his dad a hug goodbye, and left for the train station. Meanwhile, in Tranquil Town, Jackie and her family were waiting for Robby's arrival.

"Oh, isn't this exciting Jackie?" Mrs. Matthews said. "You're going to get to see your cousin Robby for two whole weeks! Well, actually I guess we should call him your step-cousin. Cousin-in-law? No, no, no! Maybe just the son of your step-uncle. Or uncle-in-law."

"Well, whatever he is, I can't wait to see him again!" Corey exclaimed. "We hardly got to know him when we visited on Thanksgiving! If we're lucky, he could become Grojband's newest number one fan!"

Jackie raised an eyebrow.

"…Of course, no one could ever replace you, Jacks."

Jackie playfully rolled her eyes.

"I just hope that Robby doesn't turn out to be as boorish and stuck-up as Ben and Gwen were." Laney recalled.

"Nah." Jackie replied. "He's a little shy, but overall he's a real sweetheart."

Just then, a train pulled up.

"Oh! That's his train right now!" Mr. Matthews announced.

Kon grabbed Kin and squeezed him into a hug.

"Oh man! This is so awesome! I'm so excited, I think I'm gonna-" he farted in Kin's face.

Kin coughed. "Gross! My mouth was open!"

Kon blushed. "Oops…"

The train doors opened and Robby stepped out holding his suitcase. Jackie went up and hugged him.

"Hey cuz!"

"Robby, it's so nice to see you." Mrs. Matthews greeted.

"Tracy, say hello to your cousin." Mr. Matthews instructed his eldest daughter.

Tracy was texting someone on her phone while leaning up against a wall.

"Ugh. Hi or whatever."

"I'm so glad you could come down for your spring break!" Jackie grinned.

Robby shrugged. "Thanks. I'm happy to-"

Corey and the band zipped up in front of him.

"Hey, hey, Rob-meister! Remember us?"

"Uh, yeah. Ya'll are kind of hard to forget."

The four hugged the boy tightly.

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Corey let go. "And let me just say, you chose the right time of the year to visit, Robby my boy! Because next Friday is the day of the Spring Solstice Parade! This year, Grojband is getting their own float!"

"And since you're our special guest, you get to ride in the float with them!" Jackie added.

"Really? Wow, I've never been on a float before."

"And we've got a really big surprise for you!" Kon interrupted as Kin covered Robby's eyes.

"Hey! Where we goin?" Robby tripped over a staircase.

Jackie helped him up. "Uh, maybe you should shield his eyes once we get back home, guys."

"Oh…didn't think about that." Corey smiled sheepishly.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

One transition later, the band had led Robby to their garage. Kin once again, had his hands over Robby's eyes.

"So, where we goin' again?" Robby asked.

"Just wait. We're almost there!" Corey reassured him.

Kin uncovered Robby's eyes just as they reached the garage door.

"Wow…" Robby mumbled. "Uh, what is it?"

"Uh, can't you tell?" Corey answered sarcastically. "It's a garage! Duh!"

"Core!" Laney scolded. "He was born on a farm! He can't help it if he doesn't know what a garage is!"

Robby blushed. "Oh no! I know what it is, I've just never really seen one."

"Not even back at the mansion?" Kin inquired.

"Nah. Jen prefers to keep all her cars upstairs in the pool room. That way whenever someone goes swimming up there, the cars'll get wet and the butlers won't have to wash em."

"So, how does she drive them anywhere if they're in the house?" Laney wondered.

"Drive? Oh no! She never drives those cars anywhere! They're just for show. If she ever needs to go anywhere, her butlers take her in one of their limos. And they keep those in Jen's oversized parking lot."

"Ahh…" Grojband nodded.

"…So, is this the surprise ya'll were talking about?"

"Oh no! This is just where we're keeping it!"

Kon and Laney opened the door and revealed a giant pumpkin sitting inside the garage.

"Behold! Grojband's Super-Awesome, Amazingly-Spectacular, Mega-Rad Float for the Spring Solstice Parade!" Corey cried.

"That's a mouthful of a title." Laney noted.

Robby stepped into the garage and got a good look at the float.

"Is that a…pumpkin?"

"Yep!" Kin responded. "We were gonna make it look more like an electric guitar, but Jackie said that since you were coming, we should make it look like something that reminds you of home! So we figured a pumpkin would be perfect! You know, since you were raised in a barn and all."

Robby silently gasped as he recalled what Ben and Gwen had told him.

"_Barn Boy! Barn Boy! Robby is a Barn Boy!_"

He shook his head before looking back at Kin. "Oh…yeah…that…"

"Great isn't it?" Corey put an arm around Jackie's cousin. "I bet you can't wait to ride on that next week!"

"Yeah!" Kon agreed. "It's gonna be totally fun!"

"More like funny-looking!" a voice called out.

The five turned around and spotted Grojband's most-hated rivals, the Newmans, standing outside. All of them had smug looks on their faces.

"Hello Newmans." Corey crossed his arms and glared.

"What is that thing? A giant orange?" Kim remarked.

"It's a pumpkin." Corey corrected her.

Carrie got a look at the float. "More like a lame-kin!"

Larry, Kim, and Konnie laughed hysterically. Kin raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? That's the best insult you can come up with? I can think of ten better comebacks about a pumpkin than what you just spat out."

"Uh, who said she was talking about the pumpkin…" Kim flicked Kin's nose. "…Lame-Kin?"

The Newmans laughed as Kin angrily rubbed his nose. Carrie glanced over at Robby.

"Who's the country bumpkin over there?"

Robby turned deep red and looked away.

"He's Jackie's cousin, Robby." Corey explained. "Well, actually he's not really her cousin. He's more like the stepbrother of her real cousins. Or something like that."

"Yeah, and not only that, his stepmom owns one of the biggest, fanciest mansions in the world!" Kin bragged.

Carrie flipped her hair. "Well, I guess you have that going for you."

"I'm guessing you came here to join Grojband's dumb fan club, am I right?" Kim smirked.

Grojband scowled at their worst rivals. Robby looked back and forth between the two bands. He was having a hard time picking between the both of them. That is, until he remembered what he promised himself before he came to Tranquil Town. The black-haired boy pushed his bangs out of his face and said:

"More like Grojbabies!" he chuckled as he joined the rival band.

"Hey!" Corey yelled.

"Ooh! A country attitude!" Carrie observed. "I like it!"

"Mm-hm!" Larry, Kim, and Konnie nodded.

"Oh yeah? Well there's more where that came from! Check this out!" Robby walked over to where the float was and gave it a good kick, causing one of the wheels to fall off.

"Oh no he didn't!" Kon went.

Robby and the Newmans laughed until suddenly, the pumpkin started rolling towards them. Everyone jumped out of the way as the pumpkin rolled out of the garage, down the street, and finally crashed into a ditch. Grojband ran outside and gasped when they found that the float was completely destroyed.

"Looks like somebody's pumpkin just got squashed!" Robby joked which made the Newmans giggle.

Kin scowled. "When we tell Jackie, you'll be sor-"

"You're gonna tell Jackie what?" Robby got in Kin's face and gave him a threatening glare.

"Uh, well you know…uh…" Kin started to sweat nervously.

"What are ya? A snitch?"

Kin gulped and shut his eyes.

"C'mon Robby!" Carrie gestured to the bully. "You should hang with us! You know, the cool band! Not these babies!"

Robby nodded and followed the band's gender opposites outside, but not before he gave one more menacing glare back at our heroes.

"What just happened?" Corey asked.

"I think Robby just went to the dark side." Laney summed up.

"We have to tell Jackie!" Kin wailed.

"No!" Corey shook his head. "You heard what he said! We are not snitches!"

"Yeah!" Laney slumped down with her arms crossed. "And we're not babies either!"

"…Then why do I feel like crying?" Kon whimpered.

An hour later, the gang was still in the garage, trying to think of a way to deal with their situation. Corey looked outside and saw the remains of their parade float.

"Man, I still can't believe he ruined our awesome float for the parade."

"I still can't believe Jackie," Kin's eyes filled with hearts. "The prettiest, sweetest, cutest girl I know…" his heart eyes popped. "Is related to a dirty, rotten, stinky, evil meanie!"

"She's related to two, actually." Kon corrected. "Him and Tracy."

"What are we gonna do?" Laney groaned.

Corey scratched his chin and beamed. "We're gonna build a new float! That's what!"

"So he can wreck that one too? Forget it." Laney replied.

Corey sighed. Then Kin spoke up.

"We…could always tell Jackie."

The other three thought about what Robby had said before.

"_What are ya? A snitch?_"

"No!" they yelled at Kin.

"Grojband is not gonna be known as a bunch of tattletales!" Corey scolded, closing the garage door. "Besides, he's only here for a couple of weeks. We'll just avoid him like the plague until he goes home!"

"Avoid him." Laney rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like that's not gonna be hard at all."

So Grojband spent the next week trying to stay away from Jackie's half-cousin. Wait, step-cousin? Cousin-in-law? Whatever. They tried everything they could to avoid Robby, but no matter where they went, Robby would always find them. And whenever he did find them, he was ready to torment them in any way he could. On Sunday, they went to the Sugar Shack for Free Milkshake Day, but somehow, Robby had followed them to the shack and he stole their milkshakes from them. Then to add insult to injury, he threw the milkshakes and a bunch of tomatoes at the poor band and the Newmans laughed at them. On Monday, they went to the movies and got front row seats. But just as the trailers started rolling, Robby threw popcorn at them from the back row and chased them out of the theater. On Tuesday, the four went to the library, believing there was no way Robby would find them there. Unfortunately, they found him behind a bookshelf and he blew dust from an old book into their faces. On Wednesday, they hid in a costume shop, disguised as four familiar characters (Corey had a blonde wig and a white sweater with an orange ascot, Laney wore a purple dress and a purple headband in her long red wig, Kin sported a short, brown wig and an orange turtleneck, and Kon donned another short brown wig and a green V-neck). As they snuck around, they noticed a brown Great Dane following them. The mutt stood up and removed its head, revealing itself to be a hideous monster. The band ran away screaming as the monster removed its head, revealing itself to actually be Robby. On Thursday, the band tried hiding in even more stores, but each time, they were met with one of Robby's pranks. Our heroes had such a miserable week, that they actually sang a song describing how they felt about Robby's bullying. And it went something like this:

_Grojband: Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Yeah, yeah_

_Corey: First we thought that Robby was really, really sweet_

_A new friend to have and it seemed like such a treat_

_Laney: But then we found the truth_

_He's just a bully from the east_

_He went from Robby to a bully and a beast_

_Corey: Everywhere we turn, he's just a step ahead_

_Grojband: Robby, Robby_

_What we gonna do?_

_Got a bully on our tail_

_Gotta hide, we gotta bail_

_Robby, Robby_

_If he's after you_

_Gotta run, we gotta flee_

_Gotta hurry, don't you see?_

_Robby, Robby_

_He's just a big bully_

_Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Yeah, yeah_

_Corey: Hiding from a bully_

_We know it isn't right_

_But Grojband's not the kind of band that goes looking for fights_

_Laney: Oh he'll go home soon_

_And then we'll have some peace again_

_But for now we're staying out of his way till then_

_Corey: Everywhere we turn_

_He's just a step ahead_

_Grojband: Robby, Robby_

_What we gonna do?_

_Got a bully on our tail_

_Gotta hide, we gotta bail_

_Robby, Robby_

_If he's after you_

_Gotta run, we gotta flee_

_Gotta hurry, don't you see?_

_Why so mean?_

_Why so crude?_

_Why so angry?_

_Why so rude?_

_Can't you be nice?_

_Can't we be friends?_

_Isn't it sad?_

_Is this how it all ends?_

_Robby, Robby_

_He's just a big, big_

_Robby, Robby_

_He's just a big, big_

_Robby, Robby_

_He's just a big bully!_

Grojband walked home that day with wet hair, bruised knees, and a lowered self-image. Laney paused when she realized what had just happened.

"Wait, did we actually just sing a song with our own lyrics?"

"Nah." Kin explained. "The author just gave us an already written song and changed the words a little. It's happened before. Don't get your hopes up."

"Oh…"

The four finally found their house and were about to head inside to clean up.

"Well, look at the bright side gang." Corey tried to smile. "Robby may have run us out of town, but at least we still have the-"

They all froze once they saw Robby standing in the garage doorway waiting for them.

"Hey! What are ya'll doing in my garage?"

Laney turned red. "Y-Y-Your garage?! This is our garage!"

Robby pushed back his bangs. "Well, it was yours. And now it's mine!"

"And ours too!" Carrie added as she and the other Newmans appeared out of nowhere.

"What?!" Corey was exasperated. "You guys already have a garage!"

"Wrong. Now we have two." Kim held up two fingers.

"But…that's not fair, Robby." Kon said, on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, we never did anything to you…" Kin sniffled.

"And let's keep it that way! Now scram, crybabies! Oh, and I believe this belongs to you."

The thirteen-year-old kicked out what looked like a broken heart-shaped picture frame toward Kin's feet. Inside the frame was a ripped up photo of Jackie. As it turns out, this was actually Kin's favorite and the most valuable picture of Jackie he owned. He kept it hidden in a secret compartment under the couch, but somehow Robby had found it and ruined it. The keyboardist's lip quivered and his eyes watered.

"Uh-oh…" Kon muttered.

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Kin cried two giant waterfalls of tears. The other band members pulled out umbrellas and shielded themselves.

**CRYBABY TRANSITION!**

Since Grojband had no where else to go, they decided to gather in the living room to think of a plan to deal with Robby. Kin sat on the couch, trying to glue his precious picture frame back together.

"Oh Jackie…" he said through sobs. "I always knew your beauty could never be tarnished. But I never knew it could be destroyed!"

More tears poured from his eyes. Kon handed his twin a box of tissues and he blew his nose into one.

Corey paced around the room. "That Robby has gone too far this time!"

"Kicked out of our own garage!" Laney grumbled. "He may as well have kicked us out of our own beds too!"

"He did actually." Kon reminded the bassist. "We sleep in that garage, remember?"

"What?! Seriously?!"

Kin wiped away his tears. "We need to talk to Jackie!"

Corey, Laney, and Kon thought about what Robby would do to them if they told Jackie.

"No!" they shouted.

"Jackie's mom?"

"No!"

"…Tracy?"

Corey facepalmed. "Ugh! Now you're just being stupid! We need to fight back!"

"Yeah! Now we're talking!" Laney punched her fist with a vengeful smirk, then paused. "…How are we gonna do that?"

Corey looked out the window and saw Mayor Swellow and a few other citizens setting up for the parade the next day. This gave the blue-headed front man an idea.

"…By making him the guest of honor at the Spring Solstice parade!"

"Really? You call that fighting back?" Laney raised her eyebrow.

Corey rubbed his hands together and giggled. "When you look up 'embarrassed' in the dictionary, his face will be there!" he pulled his friends into a huddle. "Now here's what we're gonna do…"

That night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, Grojband was ready to put their plan into action. At exactly 1 am, they got up from their hard, cold sleeping bags on the driveway and snuck into the garage where Robby was fast asleep on the couch. Carefully so as not to wake the sleeping farm boy, the gang tiptoed into the house without making the slightest noise. Then they split up to gather various items around the house. Once they were done, they met up in the backyard where a parade float base was waiting for them. Corey placed a lit flashlight on the ground as Kin put down a bunch of paper towel rolls.

"You get those from the basement?" Corey asked him.

"Yep!"

Kon came over with a handful of mysterious powder. He blew some onto Kin which made his skin gold and sparkly.

"Ooh…" Kin posed.

"Luster dust! I found it in the pantry." Kon told his friends. "I think Jackie's mom uses it for decorating cakes and stuff."

Laney dumped out the bag she was carrying.

"Gears and bands for the moving mechanism…some tools…" she nudged Corey in the arm. "Did you get the thing from the place?"

Corey reached into his pocket and took out a mysterious device.

"What's that?" Kin inquired.

"Kitchen timer."

"What's it for?"

"You'll see…" Laney chuckled evilly.

"C'mon gang." Corey gestured the others to follow him. "Let's get to it. We only got a few hours before morning and this thing has to look so good, Robby won't be able to resist wanting to ride in it!"

**ROBBY IS GONNA PAY!**

The four friends spent the rest of the night putting together the ultimate parade float. Corey designed the blueprints, Kon lifted all the wood, Laney painted and decorated everything, and Kin, well, he did the rest. It took four whole hours to get it all done, and by the time the sun came up, the teens were exhausted. Corey, Laney, and Kon waited as Kin put some finishing touches on the steering wheel.

"Are we done yet?" Kon yawned.

Kin stepped out of the float, rubbing his eyes. "I think…we're good to go…"

"Good." Laney gaped. "Cause we better get outta here before Robby finds us."

They all put their hands together.

"Go…Grojband…" they chanted sleepily.

Two hours later, the parade was just about ready to start. People were gathered on both sides of the street, chatting with each other and enjoying some vendor treats. Jackie and her family were standing outside their house, waiting to see Grojband on their float. Even Tracy was there with them (although she was forcefully dragged there and was planning on texting throughout the entire parade). Robby and the Newmans walked through the crowd and gazed at all of the floats. Most of them weren't that impressive or were sub-par at best. Then they spotted Grojband's float, which was shaped like a shiny, gold electric guitar.

"Whoa…" Robby went.

Kon polished off one of the wheels. "Isn't it smashing?"

The others gave Kon terrified looks, hinting to him that he was going to give Robby ideas.

"Uh, no! I didn't mean smash! I mean…isn't it a hit? No! No hit! No hitting! I meant-"

The Newmans rolled their eyes and walked back into the crowd.

Laney poked Robby in the nose. "Well don't even think about riding it, Robby!" she winked at the others.

Corey smiled at Kon and nudged him in the arm. Kon gave him a confused look in response, but then remembered what Corey wanted him to do. The drummer stepped inside the float, flipped the 'on' switch, and set the kitchen timer. Corey and Kin dragged a mattress over and set it down next to the float. The boys winked at Laney, letting her know that everything was all set.

"You had your chance." Laney poked Robby one more time and joined her friends.

Robby looked back over at the Newmans. They just made bored expressions and rolled their eyes again. Grojband happily watched as Robby gained a menacing grin on his face. Laney opened the door for the boys and that's when the raven-haired kid made his move. Before the band had a chance to step inside, Robby ran up and knocked them away. Luckily, they landed safely on the mattress.

"See ya later, Grojbabies!" Robby called before slamming the door.

"The timer set?" Corey asked Kon and he nodded.

Kin stood up. "That'll teach him to mess with Grojband!"

"You guys are letting Robby ride in your golden guitar float?"

Grojband noticed Jackie standing behind them, holding a bunch of balloons.

"Yeah. We thought he deserved to be the center of attention…" Corey rubbed his hands together and he and the others snickered.

Jackie, however, didn't suspect a thing. "Aw, that's so sweet of you guys! Making Robby feel all special! You know, after all the heartache he's been having back home."

Corey paused. "…Heartache?"

"Well…I didn't say anything because I didn't want him to feel singled out, but Ben and Gwen have been giving poor Robby a hard time at the mansion. They've been teasing him to pieces and calling him a 'Barn Boy'."

"T-T-Teased?" Corey repeated.

"B-B-Ben and Gwen?" Kin stuttered.

"Yep." Jackie nodded, handing each one of her friends a balloon. "I guess he came down here to get away from his problems."

The manager hugged her now guilty friends before leaving.

"I'm so proud of you guys! You did a good thing."

The gang's balloons deflated as if their sorrow was contagious. They got into a huddle.

"So that's why he jumped in when the Newmans started being their jerky selves." Laney noted.

"He didn't wanna be bullied like at home, so he decided to be a bully instead!" Kin concluded.

Kon watched as the gold guitar float moved across the street.

"And now we've turned into bullies too!"

"WHAT DO WE DO?!" they all cried.

**WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO?**

Robby drove Grojband's float down the street and waved to all the people cheering at him. The Newmans came up to meet him.

"Whoa! Sweet float, Robby!" Konnie commented.

Robby grinned. "Snagged it from those whiny baby gender opposites of yours."

"You're literally the coolest guy I know, Robby!" Carrie said which made Larry worry.

"Uh, you're exaggerating, right Care?"

Grojband ran down the street, chasing after their float.

"Hurry up guys! We gotta stop that float!" Corey ordered.

The group ran up to where Jackie and her family were standing.

"Jackie! We need your-"

Corey was cut off by the parade's loud music.

"Huh?" Jackie held a hand to her ear.

"You have to help us, it's-"

"What?!"

"WE BOOBY TRAPPED IT!" the beanie-wearing kid screamed as the music quieted down.

Everyone in the neighborhood looked over at Grojband awkwardly.

"…Robby! Bully! Payback! No time to explain!" Laney summed up. "We just gotta get Robby outta that float!"

Jackie and her parents watched as the band ran away.

"Sweetie, in the future, are you planning on finding any sane friends, perchance?" Mr. Matthews questioned his daughter.

Robby continued driving the float and waving to the neighborhood, completely unaware of the ticking timer sitting next to him. While that was happening, Grojband squeezed their way through a massive crowd.

"Hey! That's my popcorn!" someone yelled.

"Sorry!"

"Scuse me!"

"Whoops!"

"Outta the way! Coming through!"

Once they made it out, they noticed the float moving toward the town pond, where a huge mud puddle was sitting next to it. Then Corey spotted a float that was shaped like his head and saw Kelsey and Alyssa driving it.

"Whoa, it's an exact replica." Laney observed. "That's not creepy at all."

"Hey groupies!" Corey called.

Kelsey and Alyssa looked behind them and squealed.

"Check it out Kelsey! Corey Riffin is admiring our float!"

"Did we get your bangs right?"

"Yeah! It's surprisingly accurate! But can you do us a favor and let us in?"

"Grojband wants to come in our float!" the girls squealed and opened the door for their favorite musicians.

As soon as they were in, Corey slammed on the gas pedal and swerved in front of the other floats.

"Robby!" he called when he caught up to his float. "You gotta get outta that float!"

"Ya'll ain't getting your float back, crybabies!"

"But it's booby-trapped!" Kin tried to explain, but Robby didn't listen and knocked them off the road.

"OMG!" Kelsey cried. "We're about to crash in our parade float with Grojband!"

"Quick! Take a selfie! I wanna remember this awesome yet painful moment for the rest of my life!" Alyssa encouraged.

**CRASH!**

The groupies' float broke apart, leaving themselves and Grojband all bruised.

"No way! My knees are all totally scraped!" Kelsey hollered.

"I think I have a concussion, but it was so worth it!" Alyssa added.

"EEEEE!"

"…Seriously?" Laney groaned in disbelief, but chose not to comment any more as she and her friends ran off to chase the float once again.

Unfortunately, before they had a chance to catch up, the timer went off and the float's steering wheel started turning itself.

"What in the hay?!" Robby grabbed onto the wheel and tried to regain control. But no matter what, he couldn't get it to steer right again. He noticed the mud puddle near the pond and panted heavily.

Then suddenly, Grojband caught up and pushed Robby out of the float, taking his place at the steering wheel just as it was about to fall into the mud. Corey looked down and became wide-eyed. The others did the same.

"Oh sweet gorgonzola!" he screamed.

**SPLAT!**

The float stopped itself right in the middle of the puddle. The wheels got stuck and the mud made the gold paint peel off. Grojband climbed up looking filthy and more bruised.

"Ow…" Laney rubbed her head. "Core, you've had some stupid ideas before, but this was definitely the stupidest…"

The four heard a camera sound from above them and looked up to see Tracy snapping a picture of them and posting the picture on Bleater.

"'First day of spring and Grossband is doing their annual imitation of earthworms! Hashtag losers!" she giggled.

"Are you guys okay?" Jackie came down to help her friends out.

"Yeah…we're fine." Laney moaned.

"No sweat." Kin shook some mud out of his ears.

Robby ran up to join the five.

"After I've been so mean to ya, ya'll saved me!"

Corey sighed. "Yeah…about that…"

Later back at Jackie's house, the band was washing off all of the mud in the bathtub.

"I don't get it." Robby said. "I saw it all happen! You pushed me out just when the float was about to head into the mud!"

"Except…we were the reason it was headed into the mud." Laney got out of the tub and Jackie handed her a towel.

"We boobytrapped the float." Kin frowned guiltily.

"You see Robby, we were trying to get you back for being a big bully!" Corey poked Robby's chest.

"Then Jackie told us about how you were being bullied by Ben and Gwen back at home." Laney continued.

"And we figured you were just doing it to avoid getting picked on in Tranquil Town." Kin finished.

Kon nodded. "But by then, we were the ones being bullies. And…oh! Why does life have to be so ironic?!"

Corey rolled his eyes. "I guess what we're trying to say is…"

"We're sorry…" the four said with hung heads.

Robby pushed back his bangs. "I'm sorry too…"

Jackie just smiled. "You know, all of this could have been avoided if you guys had just come to me in the first place."

"That's what I said!" Kin glared at the others, who gave him guilty smiles.

Robby held out his hand. "So…can we…start over?"

Corey wrapped an arm around Jackie's semi-cousin. "Totally. As soon as we put on some clean clothes…"

And so, after that totally awkward, but forgiving, scene, our heroes decided to treat their new friend to a little concert in the garage. They played all of their favorite and most popular songs and when they finished, Robby actually applauded them.

"Whoo!" he hollered. "That was great! Best musical performance I ever did hear! Course, back home the only music I ever heard was my dad playing the banjo. Don't understand why Tracy hates ya'll's music so much."

"Meh. She's just a grouch." Corey suggested.

"So, what do you do for fun?" Laney queried.

"Oh, I'm more of a sport's man myself. Just recently I made my school's soccer team." Robby picked up his soccer ball. "Check this out."

The farm boy gave the ball a good kick, causing it to bounce off the walls, the ceiling, the garage door, and Kon's head. It then landed back in Robby's hands.

"Now that was amazing!" Laney complimented.

"Yeah. I remember when I was real young and my pa would take me out to the field and help me practice. Because of him, I got better and better each day. We had some real fond memories. Oh! Speaking of which!"

Robby went over to the couch and started digging under it. Grojband watched with confusion and interest.

"Kin? I believe this belongs to you." he revealed a brand new heart-shaped picture frame with Jackie's photo inside and handed it to Kin.

Kin's eyes twinkled and he gasped in surprise.

"No way! It looks exactly like the old one!"

"Yeah. I know that thing meant a lot to ya and I felt awful bad about the way I treated ya so I figured it was the least I could do."

Kin squeezed Robby into a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'll treasure it always! This is the best present anyone has ever given me! It's so beautiful…so magnificent…so perfect…"

"Gee, I never knew you liked picture frames that much."

"He's not talking about the frame." Kon explained.

"Oh…"

Kin stared at Jackie's photo for a few seconds more until Corey snapped him out of his fantasy.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah." Kin hugged Robby again. "You know, I think you're gonna be my favorite cousin of Jackie's."

"Mine too." Corey joined in.

"And me." Laney smiled. "Even if you're just the son of her step-uncle or whatever."

Kon came over and wrapped his arms around all of them.

"Aww…we're like a big happy family!"

"Ack!" Robby gagged. "Does he do this a lot?"

"Don't worry." Corey choked. "You get used to it."

And after that, things at the Matthews' residence were just fine. For the next week or so, Grojband and Robby got to know each other better and they spent the rest of spring break having fun together. Everyone was happy. Robby was happy to have some new friends and Grojband was happy that Robby was able to laugh with them instead of at them. They were sad to see Robby leave on Sunday, but at least they got to say one last goodbye to him before he went home.

"So you promise you'll tell everyone at your school about us?" Corey asked at the train station.

"Yep!" Robby nodded. "And I promise to talk to my pa about Ben and Gwen's teasing back home."

"Good." Jackie patted her step-cousin's shoulder. "And if you have any problems, we've got your back too."

"So, you're leaving, huh?"

The six turned around to see the Newmans walking up.

"Great! Now we're stuck here with these lame-os!" Carrie whined.

Grojband looked down in embarrassment.

"Hey!" Robby got in the rival band's faces. "That ain't how you talk to my friends!"

Kim was in disbelief. "Friends?!"

"Yeah! Ya'll got a problem with that?"

"Well what if I do?" Carrie remarked. "What are 'ya'll' gonna do about it?"

Robby just smiled. "Tell your manager's mother about your bad attitudes!"

The Newmans were horrified, so horrified in fact, that they backed away from Robby and accidentally fell into a mud puddle. Grojband and Jackie laughed.

Robby gave all of them one last hug and stepped onto the train. They all waved to him.

"I'm really gonna miss that Barn Boy." Kon said.

"Barn Boy?" Jackie replied confusedly. "I thought you guys were friends now?"

"Oh no! See, first he was a Barn Boy, as in he was made fun of for living on a barn. But now Barn Boy is kind of like a funny, friendly nickname. Get it?"

"Yeah…no."

And then they all laughed as the train drove away.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey closed the garage door.

* * *

**28 original scenarios left! 15 slots available!**

**I've actually heard that "One Bad Apple" was the worst episode of Season 3 and one of MLP's worst episodes. I can kind of see why since the message comes across as 'it's okay to bully if you've been bullied'. I really don't like that message, but for some reason, I decided to keep this chapter similar to the episode anyway. Seriously though, it's not okay to bully others. And it's especially not okay to bully them just because someone else is bullying you. And if you are being bullied, tell an adult right away. Don't take anything said in this or the MLP episode seriously. **

**As always, remember to review if you want the next chapter faster! My goal is to get the next chapter to you next week but I'm not making any promises. See you all later!**


	69. The Grojlympics

**Yeah, as you can probably guess, I didn't get this done within the week of the last chapter. I really, really wanted to, but I totally forgot I was going to the beach for a whole week and I didn't have time to work on this. So, sorry about that.**

**Anyway, since the Olympics just happened recently, I figured I would post something having to with the games! It's based on a suggestion given to me by a guest reviewer:**

**"Jackie feels unwantwd when her band hid the fact that they were to compete in the shadowbullets games that happen every two years in her school and against Lincoln prep high school. With some mind playing from the other competitors *cough* tracy and mina *cough* jackie tries to go it alone, can grojband make it up to her or watch their friend walk away?"**

**Yes, I know it's another long one. I really do want to make these things shorter, but for some reason whenever I read short chapters, I feel like things move along too fast. I'll keep working on it. Also, I wasn't sure exactly what the Shadowbullets games were or whether or not they were even a real thing, so I made something up. If it's not what you expected, I sincerely apologize, guest reviewer. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 69**

**The Grojlympics**

Spring was flying by fast in Tranquil Town. It was already the month of April and to the townspeople, it felt like it had only been a week since the first day of spring. But even if it was ending quicker than it began, the fun times were far from over. For this was the year of the 3rd biannual Shadow Bullets Games at Elementary High. And not only was it Grojband's first time attending the games, it was also their first time participating in the events. Corey hung up a poster for the games in the garage and turned to his pals.

"Gather round gang! I've got some great news!"

"What's up Core?" Laney asked.

"Did you make grilled cheese?" Kon clapped his hands excitedly.

"Kon, that's what you always ask when Corey says he has good news." Kin rolled his eyes.

"So? You were thinking the same thing."

"True…"

"This is way better than a melted sandwich guys!" Corey gestured to the poster. "The Shadow Bullets Games is in less than a week!"

Kin and Kon gasped. "Yay!"

"Okay…" Laney folded her arms. "And just what is that Core?"

"It's a whole day of various sporting events, a shiny gold trophy, and sweet, sweet competition! It only happens every two years and this year, Elementary High is participating against Lincoln Prep High School in a series of incredible challenges! Like relay races, pole vaulting, javelin throwing, relay races, target shooting, rock climbing, and did I mention relay races?"

"Okay, so how is this good news for us?" Laney spoke up again.

"Because Mayor Swellow just called the house yesterday and he wants all of us to represent Elementary High at the games!"

"Whoa…" Kin and Kon's eyes twinkled.

"Core! We're a band, not a sport's team!" Laney lectured. "We don't know anything about competitive gaming!"

"Chill guy. The games' aren't for another week. That's plenty of time to train and get to know the events! In the meantime…" Corey took out a box. "Let's see if our team uniforms fit!"

Each of the band members picked out a different colored uniform (Corey wore purple, Laney wore blue, Kin wore green, and Kon wore orange) and tried them on. All of the shirts had the initials 'EH' on them.

Kon giggled. "Hee, hee! Hey, these shirts are pretty funny, 'eh'? Hee, hee, hee!"

"We look great!" Corey noted. "With our cool uniforms, incredible skills, and even more incredible teamwork, we're sure to bring home the gold!"

"Yeah! Plus, this'll give me a chance to impress Jackie with my sporting talents." Hearts surrounded Kin. "I wonder which event would show off my muscles more? The shot-put or weightlifting?"

"How about the nerdles?" Kon laughed.

Kin clenched his fists. "Oh yeah? Well at least I can run for ten seconds without getting winded!"

"Was that a fat joke?!" Kon got in his twin's face.

Corey broke the two up. "C'mon guys! Teamwork, remember? Save the comebacks for the other team."

Just then, Jackie entered the scene.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" she then noticed the poster and the gang's uniforms and gasped. "No way! The Shadow Bullets Games?! That's like the most exciting sporting event at my school! You guys never told me you were on a team this year!"

"Oh yeah. Guess we forgot to mention it." Corey rubbed the back of his neck. "Mayor Swellow said that since we won the Curling Competition last year, we'd be perfect to represent Elementary High at the games next week."

"That…is so…awesome!" Jackie squealed. "I can hardly wait! So where's my uniform?"

"Oh…yeah…about that…" Corey tried to say as Jackie looked in the box of uniforms, only to find that it was empty.

"Hey…there's no more uniforms. Did you guys take mine out already?"

"Uh…no. Actually…um…the mayor only sent us four…"

"What? But why? I played in the curling games too, you know! In fact, I won it for the whole school! Why would he forget to include me?"

"Well um…see, he didn't forget you." Corey explained. "He just said that there was only enough room on the team for four players and well…I think he wanted the whole band to play in the games."

"Did he tell you that?"

"No, but I'm sure it was implied somewhere. Besides, we thought you would understand. You don't seem like the person who would be into sports."

"Are you kidding? I was on Elementary High's team last time and the time before that! I love the Shadow Bullets Games! I can't believe you guys assumed I wouldn't want to be on a team with you!" Jackie crossed her arms and looked away.

Kin got worried and hugged her arm. "Oh no, no, no! That's not true at all! We'd love to have you on our team, Jackie!"

"If it were up to us, you'd be our team captain!" Laney added.

"Totally!" Kon nodded.

"Yeah, it's just that…Grojband is a team all by itself." Corey rested his hand on Jackie's shoulder. "With or without the Shadow Bullets Games. Before we met you, the four of us always stuck together. Whether we were practicing for a gig or playing a game or pretty much doing anything! If one of us wasn't there, we wouldn't be complete and everything would totally fall apart!"

"So you're saying leaving me out doesn't make a difference?" Jackie sighed.

"No! I'm just saying that me, Laney, Kin, and Kon depend on each other to perform better. And we've been doing that way before we met you."

"So, you don't need me?" Jackie had tears in her eyes which made Kin panic.

"No! Please don't cry! He didn't mean it like that! It's not like we don't need you! I need you all the time! I mean, we need you all the time."

"It's like this." Laney attempted to explain. "You're a member of our group, but you're not a member of our band. You know, because you don't play an instrument. But just because you don't play with us doesn't mean you're not our friend."

"Well…I guess that makes sense…" Jackie smiled a little. "Can I still come to the games to cheer you guys on?"

Corey reached into his pocket. "Duh! That's what this free ticket is for!"

"No way!" Jackie took the ticket. "These were supposed to have been sold out by now! How'd you get it?"

"Mayor Swellow said he's willing to make exceptions if it means we win the games!"

"Eee! I can hardly wait!"

"So, does that mean we're good?"

Jackie hugged Corey tightly. "More than ever."

"Lucky." Kin grumbled.

"Well I better leave you guys to prep for the games. But let me know if you need any help. I was in the games twice, after all. See ya!" Jackie ran back in the house.

"Well, that went better than I expected." Laney observed. "I kinda thought she would think we were leaving her out on purpose."

"Nah. Jackie trusts us." Kin insisted. "She knows that whenever we do something without her, we always have a good reason to do it. She's so selfless…"

"And you are hopeless…" Kon rolled his eyes.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

"It's so not fair Macy!" Tracy complained to her lackey in her room. "Even after I made you do all that yard work around the neighborhood, I still don't have enough money to buy a ticket to the Shadow Bullets games! Why couldn't you have plucked those weeds better?"

"I'm sorry Tracy! I'll keep working on it!"

Tracy's head hit her pillow. "Ugh! Why bother? Even if your weeding skills were up to par, we still can't buy a ticket because they're sold out or some junk! Why does life have to be so cruel to those who have done nothing to deserve such hardship?"

"Why do you even want to go to the Shadow Bullets games? You hate sports."

Tracy got in Macy's face. "But hunky Rick Salary doesn't! He's been to every stupid game so far! And if I don't get to sit next to him and his hunkaliciousness next week, my life is over!"

"Well, I uh-"

"Macy! Can't you see I'm too distraught to listen to you right now? Think of something to cheer me up! NOW!"

Then suddenly, the two girls heard humming outside of the room. They peeked their heads through the door and spotted Jackie holding her ticket while singing to herself.

"Hm…on second thought, maybe I can cheer up myself by uncheering up my twerp of a sister! And maybe even swipe that ticket of hers! Wait here Mace."

Tracy left Macy behind and ran up to Jackie.

"Hey, sis! Fancy seeing you here!"

Jackie was suspicious. "Uh, I live here. What do you want Tracy?"

"Why must my talking to you have to do with something I want? Maybe I'm just enjoying your company for a change!" Tracy gagged under her breath.

"Sure…"

"Now tell me, where did you get that Shadow Bullets ticket? They're supposed to be sold out, you know."

"Grojband gave it to me." Jackie hid the ticket with her hands so Tracy couldn't steal it. "They're playing on our school's team this year and they wanted me to watch them win."

"Wait, wait, wait! Watch them? I thought you of all people would be playing with those dorks!"

"Oh…yeah, me too." Jackie hung her head.

"So let me guess. They kicked you off the team, because you're a loser, am I right?"

"What?! No! It's because Mayor Swellow said that there's only room for four players on each team!"

"And how would you know?"

"Cause they told me! That's how!"

"Are you sure? They could have been lying to you so they wouldn't hurt your wittle feewings!" Tracy pinched Jackie's cheek.

"Huh. I never thought of it like that…that does sound like something they would do…"

"Mm-hm." Tracy nodded. "I bet I know why they're not letting you on the team."

"Pfft. Yeah right." Jackie folded her arms and looked away. But then she looked back at Tracy. "Why?"

"Remember what happened at the 2nd Biannual Shadow Bullets Games?" Tracy smirked. "It was the final event, the relay race. You were the last in the line. The fate of our school's reputation was in your hands. I admit, when you raced past that other kid, I almost thought that you weren't a loser after all. But then, you made the biggest goof of your entire life. You tripped and sprained your ankle, allowing the other team to cross the finish line and win the whole thing!"

Jackie began to recall the incident as well. She remembered her team walking up to her with angry looks.

"Nice going, Matthews." a kid had said. "You blew it for all of us."

Jackie blushed in her memories and in real life. She looked back at Tracy.

"But…how would my friends know about that? They weren't there."

"No, but they could have heard about it!" Tracy pointed out. "Just face facts! They didn't leave you out because their team is full or whatever! They left you out because they know you'll mess everything up for them! Just like last time…Heck, they probably think you're even worse than Klutzy Nerd!"

Jackie was so shocked that she dropped her ticket and it landed in Tracy's hand.

"But…they're my friends…why would they…?"

Tracy put her hand on her sibling's shoulder. "Friends? Ha! With your foolish demeanor, how could you possibly have friends?"

As Tracy went back into her room with Jackie's ticket, Jackie began to cry.

"I don't believe it…they lied to me…I thought they liked me…"

The manager wiped her tears away and became angry.

"Well, I'll show them! They'll be sorry they excluded me!"

**JACKIE'S GOING SOLO!**

After about a week of vigorous, though exhausting, training, Grojband was finally ready to show their team spirit and win for Jackie's school. On the day of the games, they showed up behind the Elementary High building, where a well-built stadium was set up for the audience.

"Whoa…" Kin and Kon's mouths dropped.

"Okay, I have to admit, for a school with a really low budget, that's pretty impressive." Laney noted.

Mayor Swellow came up to meet the group, holding his mother's picture. "Well it's about time you kids showed your faces! Boy oh boy, Mother and I have been waiting for this day. The day that our school rises above the others and crushes them with our superiority! And we can't thank you boys enough for being on Team Elementary High!"

Laney grumbled.

"It's no trouble at all, Mr. Mayor!" Corey claimed. "Grojband is always happy to help out their town!"

"Glad to hear it! But before ya'll can compete, you gotta know who to defeat!" the mayor gestured to the other side of the stadium where a group of scrawny, pimple-faced kids were hanging out.

"Those students are from Lincoln Prep High! The toughest, meanest, and most undefeated school in the county! One thing's for sure about those thugs: They show no mercy! Ya'll terrified yet?"

"I don't know." Corey shrugged. "They don't look that terrifying."

"Yeah! They're just a bunch of nerds!" Kin laughed. "Not cool like me, right guys?"

Laney and Kon exchanged awkward glances.

"Who? Them?" the mayor peered ahead. "Oh no, no, no! Those kids are from Weezer Middle School! They come here just to feel included. No need to worry about them. They never win anyway. Those are the kids from Lincoln Prep!"

The mayor pointed to three teenagers with extremely large muscles working out in the corner of the stadium. Grojband's hopes of winning fell after seeing how tough these kids were. Especially when they noticed one of them eating a can of nails.

"They've taken down our school the first two games." Mayor Swellow explained. "But they won't do it again! Cause we've got ourselves a winning team, right kids?"

"Oh…yeah… right…" Corey mumbled.

Kon just gulped.

Meanwhile, Tracy and Macy had just arrived at the stadium. Tracy handed her tickets in at the ticket counter.

"Two please."

"Two?" Macy went. "I thought you only got one ticket from Jackie?"

"You don't know the power of scanning, copying, and printing." Tracy whispered. "Gasp! There's Rick!"

The girls spotted the popular boy taking his seat in the audience.

"Quick! Go get us some popcorn!" Tracy shoved Macy away. "I want our hands to touch when we reach for it at the same time!"

The selfish teen ran up to where Rick was sitting and shoved the girl who was going to sit with him away.

"Oh hi Rick! What a surprise to see you here and junk!" she sat next to him.

"Rick Salary always comes to the Shadow Bullets games. Sports really fascinate him."

"Hee, hee! Wow! What a coincidence! They fascinate me too! So cool that we both like the same things!"

"Rick thinks so too. And he's curious to know what team you're rooting for."

"Who, me? Well, I don't know. Who are you rooting for?" Tracy hinted.

"Rick always prefers to cheer for the team who's winning. And this year, he just knows that Grojband is going to win for our school."

Tracy growled when she thought about the one she loved supporting the ones she despised. But she wanted Rick to like her, so she smiled and said:

"Yeah…I think they're totally awesome or whatever…they'll win for sure…" her eye twitched.

"Cool. Glad you agree. Team pennant?" Rick handed her a tiny flag with Grojband's faces on it. She waved the flag with a fake smile, but as soon as Rick looked away, she scowled.

Meanwhile, the members of Lincoln Prep High were waiting for their teammate to arrive. The leader was talking with him on the phone.

"Measles?! You gotta be kidding me! You're seriously not gonna show up because of some wimpy childhood illness? We need you here, Ralph! Otherwise we have to forfeit!"

Ralph said something on the other line.

"Whatever, man." the leader replied. "You're dead to us, anyway."

"He bailed on us?" the only girl asked once her team captain hung up.

"This stinks." the other boy said. "We were totally gonna wipe the floor with those little wimps. Guess we'd better tell the mayor we can't compete."

"Hey! No way, man. Lincoln Prep High never quits. We'll just find someone else to play with us."

"Be real, Joey." the girl commented. "The games are starting in ten minutes. Who are we possibly gonna get to join us?"

"So, I hear you need an extra player…" a voice was heard from behind the high school students and surprisingly enough, when they turned around, they found out it belonged to our story's peppy main heroine: Jackie.

"Yeah. So what's it to you?" Joey remarked.

"If you guys need a replacement teammate, then look no further. Because I'm your gal."

"Why should we let you on the team?" the other boy crossed his arms.

"Yeah, you're just a freshman." the girl added.

"Besides, aren't you a student from Elementary High? Cause we'd never let any of those losers on our team."

"Exactly." Joey agreed. "Plus, why would you want to play against your own school?"

Jackie looked over at Grojband and glared.

"Let's just say that I've been betrayed…in the worst way possible…and I want to prove my worthiness…"

"So…you want to join our team?" Joey confirmed.

"Well, I would have joined Weezer Middle School, but they look like they've never played a sport in their lives. So? Am I in or out?"

Joey snapped his fingers and got into a huddle with the other two team members.

"All right. We'll let you play in the first event. You win, we keep you. You lose, you beat it."

Jackie gave one last look at Grojband and nodded. "Deal."

Mayor Swellow stood up on a podium in the middle of the stadium and spoke into a microphone.

"Welcome one and all to the 3rd Biannual Shadow Bullets Games! Where no matter how tall or short, everyone's a good sport! Are ya'll ready for some real energetic athletics?"

The crowd screamed with delight.

"That's what I like to hear! But before we get this show on the road, let's introduce our teams!" the mayor pulled out a list. "First up we have the nerds from Weezer Middle School! Gerald Lewis, Irvin Cobb, Susan Lawrence, and Morris Freeman!"

The social outcasts waved to the crowd, but they didn't cheer for them.

"This happens every time…" Gerald, the team leader, said.

Swellow continued. "Next, representing Elementary High, we have Grojband! Corey Riffin, Laney Penn and Kin and Kon Kujira!"

Corey flexed his arms while the twins gave big smiles and waved to the audience.

"And last but definitely not least, our undefeated champions from Lincoln Prep High School! Joey Fletcher, Theresa Guzman, Sean McDaniel, and Ralph Jackson!"

Somebody came up to the mayor and whispered something in his ear.

"Uh-huh…hm…I see…uh, we've just received word that Ralph is unable to attend the games today due to a bad case of measles!" he whispered to the person next to him. "Remind me to quarantine his house later." he cleared his throat and spoke into the mic. "So playing in his place, we have Grojband's manager…Jackie Matthews!"

Grojband's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Jackie?!"

Tracy was shocked as well. "Jackie?!"

"Huh. Rick didn't know your sister was playing in the games. Guessing you'll want to root for her instead. Here, have a pennant." Rick handed Tracy another flag and she continued to growl and clench her fists.

"Ha! We're gonna destroy you wimps!" Joey bragged.

"Yeah! You losers don't stand a chance!" Sean added.

"Hope you didn't waste all your money on a trophy case!" Theresa joked.

Jackie was about to follow her teammates but Corey held her back.

"Jacks, what are you doing? Why are you on their team?"

"Because, unlike some people, they actually need me."

"What are you talking about?" Laney was confused.

"Oh, don't think I don't know what's going on! I know what you guys are doing!"

"What are we doing?" Kon asked Kin.

"I suppose now that we're playing against each other, you guys are going to take it easy on me, huh?"

"Uh…" Corey stammered.

"You think I can't take it, don't you? You think I'll crack under pressure, don't you? You think I'll let everyone down, don't you?" Jackie got in Corey's face.

"What?"

"Well you're wrong! I'm just as tough as you guys! So don't even think about taking it easy on me! Cause one thing's for sure, I'm not gonna take it easy on you!"

And then the brunette went to join her team for the first event.

"What's gotten into her?" Laney wondered.

"I'm not sure." Corey shrugged. "But I guess we have no choice but to compete against her."

"Compete against Jackie?" Kin worried. "Y-Y-You mean we're her enemies now?"

"I guess so." Corey nodded. "I'm not sure what's wrong with her or why she would betray us like this, but we'll just have to go with the flow for now. Mayor Swellow is counting on us, so let's focus on winning these games."

"Our first event is the pole vault!" Swellow informed the patrons. "One member from each team will take their pole, run twenty yards thataway and use their pole to jump over the bars and land safely on the other side!"

Corey pushed Kin into the middle track next to Morris Freeman, the shortest member of Weezer Middle School's team.

"Okay Kin! First event's easy!" Corey lectured. "No way can a kid with a short stature like that make it over a bar placed on 10 foot standards! You'll beat him for sure!"

"Yeah, but who's playing for the other te-" Kin turned his head and gasped when he glimpsed Jackie stepping up to the track, pole in hand.

"H-H-Ha…h-h-h-heh…h-h-h-ho…sh-sh-she's so…g-g-g-gorgeous!"

"Snap out of it Kin!" Corey slapped his bandmate across the face. "This event requires concentration! That means you have to keep your Jackie-Makes-Me-Wacky Syndrome under control!"

"But I don't know how! Every time I look at her, I just freeze up and embrace the moment I'm with her."

"Dude, she's on the rival team! You're not 'with' her anymore!"

"Yeah. Corey's on the same team as me, and you don't see me freaking out every time I look at him." Laney mentioned.

"What Lanes?"

Laney blushed. "Uh…um…oh n-n-n-nothing Core!"

"Look, how about this?" Corey suggested. "Why don't you pretend she's one of those ugly monsters from your favorite roleplaying game? That might work."

"A monster." Kin repeated. "Sure. Okay. I'll try it."

"Our competitors are lining up at the starting line…" Mayor Swellow reported.

Jackie glanced at Kin and he gave her a small smile. But she frowned angrily in return and looked away. A referee fired a fake gun and the three teens started running toward the bar with their poles. Kin ran up front, trying to stay ahead so he wouldn't have to look at Jackie.

"And they're off! Elementary High is off to a good start! But what's this? The other teams are catching up fast!"

Morris Freeman reached the bar first, and surprisingly, he made it over and did an almost perfect landing. The judges gave him a score of 6. Then Jackie sped in front of Kin and he gulped nervously.

"Okay." he told himself. "Pretend she's a monster. A big, green, sharp-fanged monster. Who also happens to be a girl. With long, shiny brown hair…and…beautiful brown eyes…and strong legs and…impressive flexibility…"

Kin continued to fantasize as Jackie leapt over the bar on her pole and the judges gave her an 8.5.

"Sigh…she's the monster of every Level 35 wizard's dream…"

"KIN!"

Kin woke up to reality when he heard Corey screaming at him.

"Look out!"

"Huh?" Kin looked ahead and shrieked as he almost ran right into the standards. He screeched to a halt, but the force caused his pole to hit the ground and launch him toward the stadium wall. Everyone in the crowd cringed, except for Tracy, who was now starting to enjoy herself.

"Ha, ha! Wow! Now I totes get why people like sports so much!"

"Ouch! That's gotta hurt!" Mayor Swellow announced. "Let's see what our judges have to say!"

Each judge held up a card with a zero on it.

"A zero? Ooh! Not a good start for our favorite rock band! That means the first game goes to Lincoln Prep! Woo-hoo! Yee-haw!"

"Hey!" Corey interrupted. "I thought you were on our side!"

"Sorry kids." Swellow muttered. "But as the mayor of this town, I gotta look like I'm neutral to all the teams." he spoke back into the mic. "Let's hear it for Lincoln!"

Kin came up to his friends with a dazed expression and ruffled hair.

"What was that?" Corey scolded. "I thought you were going to imagine her as a monster!"

"I did." Kin sighed. "Best fantasy of my whole life…"

The blue-haired leader facepalmed.

Jackie joined her team members and Joey gave her a pat on the back.

"Good job, Matthews. Guess you get to stay on the team after all. In fact, how's about you play the next event too? We could use another victory."

Sean spoke up. "But Joey, I thought I was gonna do that one!"

"Can it, Sean! The adults are talking!"

"I'll be happy to do the next event." Jackie complied. "If it means teaching my old 'friends' a lesson even more, I'm down for it."

"That's what I like to hear!' Joey pushed Jackie away. "Now get out there and win us another one!"

"Next up is the javelin throw!" Mayor Swellow said. "For this game, our players must throw their javelins across the 100 foot long field without going out of bounds! The player who throws their javelin the farthest will win a point for their team!"

"Okay Lanes! You're up!" Corey instructed.

"I'll do my best!" the red-head promised as she lined up with Jackie and Irvin. Irvin took a few steps back while holding his javelin.

"Irvin from Weezer Middle School is up first! He's leaning back…he's about to move in…and…"

Irvin threw the javelin as hard as he could, but unfortunately, it didn't even make it past the white line he was standing behind.

"Ooh! A valiant effort, but I'm afraid that's gonna cost him! Laney Penn from Elementary High is up next! Let's see what happens!"

Just like Irvin, Laney backed up a bit, readied her hand, and threw with all her might. It flew about halfway across the yard before landing in front of a referee. The referee held out a white flag.

"Whoa-ho! 60 feet exactly! That's gonna be a tough score to beat, folks!" Swellow commented.

Laney smiled at Jackie. "Hey, I just wanted to let you know that if we do win this thing, I hope there's no hard feelings."

"Ooh, I hope there's no hard feelings." Jackie mimicked and then she threw her javelin, which landed two feet in front of Laney's. "Yeah, me too."

Laney's jaw dropped.

"Foul!" Tracy stood up from her seat. "That totes landed out of bounds! She should have points deducted! In fact, I think she cheated! Hashtag: Cheater alert!"

Rick squinted his eyes. "Rick says the javelin is in bounds, so it still counts."

"Ugh!" Tracy slumped. "Why do sports have to be so un-unfair!"

"This is not turning out to be a good day for Elementary High!" Swellow announced, then whispered to his mother's picture. "I know, Mother! I should have chosen the football team!"

"What gives?" Laney asked the boys. "I tried to talk to her nicely and be a good sport, but she just gave me the brush off! Do you guys think we did something to upset her?"

"No idea, but if we did, it was probably Kin's fault." Kon scoffed.

"Was not!" Kin argued, but then panicked. "…was it?!"

"Maybe we should try asking her ourselves." Laney offered.

The boys nodded in agreement and they all went to join Jackie and her team.

"Uh, hey Jacks? Mind if we talk to you?" Corey requested.

"Oh, it's you. What do you guys want?" Jackie answered coldly.

"Why are you acting so miffed?" Laney questioned. "You usually only treat us like this when we mess something up. Tell us, did we do something wrong?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Jackie looked away.

"Jacks, we can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong." Corey insisted.

"I don't have to tell you. You already know what you did! And if you think I'm going to forgive you for it, then you've got another thing coming! So just leave me alone and let me be with my real friends!"

"You losers heard her!" Joey butted in. "Get lost! Jackie's on our side now! She doesn't need you anymore!"

Grojband sadly walked away as the rival team continued to mock them.

"This doesn't make sense." Corey moped. "I don't remember doing anything to make Jackie mad."

"Me either." Kon gasped. "Maybe it's because I left the toilet seat up this morning!"

"Uh, I highly doubt that. Considering she's mad at all of us." Laney clarified.

"Well we must have done something bad. Because Jackie said she was never going to forgive us! We're probably doomed to be her rivals forever!" Kin wailed.

"Guys, I know we're dealing with a tough friendship problem right now, but we need to get through it!" Corey said with motivation. "If we spend the rest of the games worrying about what we did wrong, we'll let the school and Mayor Swellow down! So from now on, let's just stick it out, remember what we trained for, and try our hardest to win for Elementary High!"

"You're right Core!" Laney agreed.

"We did come here to have fun, after all!" Kon added.

"As much as my heart is wrenching right now, I'm still gonna do my best!" Kin said with confidence.

The four put their hands together.

"Now let's win this thing!"

"GROJBAND FOREVER!"

"Up next, we have the weightlifting competition!" Mayor Swellow announced. "Here our challengers must lift their barbells over their heads and hold it for as long as possible! The one who can lift the heaviest barbell in the longest amount of time, wins!"

"Pfft, that's easy!" Kin bragged, stepping forward. "I got this one guys."

Laney held Kin back. "You already cost us one of the first two events. We don't need you screwing up another one."

"Oh yeah? Well who do you think screwed up the other one of the first two events, Miss Smarty Pants?"

"Hey, at least I actually got a score!"

Corey broke them up. "Teamwork guys! Kon! You think you can handle this one?"

"No problemo, bossman!" Kon took his place in front of his own barbell.

"Dude! How come you get to be the one who lifts weights?" Sean complained to his team leader.

"Cause I'm the strongest! Duh!" Joey scratched his chin. "In fact, I think I'll kick things up a notch! Hand me a couple of those 100 pounders!"

Sean picked up the weights and struggled to carry them over to Joey's barbell. Once he put them on, he fainted from exhaustion.

"Now you see why I'm doing weightlifting?" Joey scoffed.

"Looks like our teams are ready!" Mayor Swellow reported. "Here's hoping none of our staff gets in trouble for letting these kids handle heavy equipment!"

Gerald's teammates put 5 pound weights on both sides of his barbell. The nerdy boy picked it up and tried to lift it over his head, but his weak muscles prevented him from doing so and he fell face first into the dirt.

"Pathetic." Joey taunted. "This is how a real man does it."

The high schooler lifted his barbell and began to sweat. The crowd watched in awe as he raised the dumbbell over his head.

"S-S-See?" he stuttered. "I'm the toughest one on this team!"

But just as the so-called 'tough kid' started to celebrate, he tilted toward the right and hit the ground. The audience gasped.

Kon walked over to Joey's frozen form.

"Need some help there, buddy?" he asked in a concerned voice as he took Joey's barbell and lifted it over his head with ease. This made everyone in the stadium go wild with excitement.

"Well, what do you know? That fat kid with spiky hair has got some muscles to spare!" Mayor Swellow rhymed. "This round goes to Elementary High!"

"Yeah! Woo-hoo! Yes!" Grojband cheered.

Corey gave Kon a high-five. "Nice one, big guy! Keep that up, and we're sure to be victorious! Now on to the next event!"

"Wait a minute. Exactly how many events are there?" Kin inquired.

"We're not seriously going to drag our readers through every single one, are we?" Laney continued.

"Hm…I guess that would be pretty tedious." Corey decided. "Okay then. Let's just make the rest of the games part of a narration. Then we'll cut to the last one."

The other band members nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

"Me too."

"I'm down."

And so, the band continued to participate in a wide variety of games and sports, such as hurdling, rock climbing, and target shooting to name a few. It's safe to say that they tried their absolute hardest at all of them and they even ended up winning a few times. Unfortunately, Jackie and Lincoln Prep caught up to them quickly and they ended up with the same amount of wins as our lovable foursome. And somehow, Weezer Middle School won some games too, which made all three of the teams neck and neck. So in turn, the winning team would have to be decided with one more game: the relay race.

"Looks like our three teams are all tied up!" Swellow stated. "Now it's time for the race that'll put these kids in their place! The relay! For this final event, all members from each team must run for a quarter mile while carrying a flag with their team logo on it. Along the way, they will pass the flag on to their teammates. The team whose flag makes it to the finish line first, will be declared the champions!"

"This is it guys!" Corey told his band. "We're so close to winning this thing! It's time to show those other kids what Grojband is made of!"

"Even Jackie?" Kin clarified.

"Yes Kin…even Jackie…"

They all glanced at their once friendly manager and she gave them a competitive scowl.

Meanwhile, Macy climbed up to Tracy and Rick's seats carrying a huge bucket of popcorn and some sodas.

"Here you go, Tracy! I made sure they gave you extra butter so Rick's hands will stick to yours."

Tracy snatched the bucket away.

"Seriously? What took you so long? It's almost time for the last event!"

"Well, there was a really long line and-"

"Ugh! Macy, does it look like I want to hear your excuses? Just go get us some straws!"

Tracy pushed Macy down the stadium stairs and looked back at Rick.

"Popcorn?" she offered.

"Nah. Rick's trying to stay away from fats."

Tracy groaned in frustration and threw the popcorn bucket at Macy, which got stuck in her hair.

The three rivaling schools took their positions on the track, with Kin, Sean, and Irvin standing behind the starting line. A referee handed each of them their own flag and stood at the end of the line.

"Ready…" Mayor Swellow began. "Steady…"

The ref stuck a fake gun into the air and fired a cork out of it. The racers began sprinting across the track.

Kin and Irvin ran ahead, trying to lose each other.

"Hey! Stop going faster than me!" Irvin argued.

"No! You stop going faster than me!" Kin fought back.

"I don't have to take orders from you! I'm a Level 25 Warrior!"

"Don't make me cast the Spell of Suffering on you, buddy!"

Just then, Sean ran by the two and made them trip and fall. "Out of my way, nerd!"

"…He was talking to you, by the way." Kin claimed.

"He was not! He was talking to you!"

"I beg to differ!"

"I beg to disagree!"

"Kin!" Laney called as Sean handed his team's flag to Theresa. "Hurry up!"

Kin and Irvin both got up, ran to Laney and Susan, and handed them the flags. The girls then sped ahead in order to catch up with Theresa. Laney reached her first.

"Just give it up already, you geek!" Theresa mocked the redhead. "There's no way I'm gonna be outrun by an ugly dude who wears makeup!"

This statement really made Laney mad.

"I'm…not…A DUDE!"

With her anger fueling her, Laney was able to spring past Theresa and be the first to finish her part of the race. She passed the flag over to Kon just as Theresa and Susan gave their flags to Joey and Morris. Thanks to Laney's speed, Kon was able to get a head start.

"Whoa! With feet that fast, no way can those kids finish last!" Mayor Swellow said. "But what's this? Grojband's sweat isn't over yet! Cause Lincoln Prep has a spring in their step!"

"I will not lose to a kid who weighs 200 pounds more than me!" Joey declared as he jumped on top of Kon to get past him. "So long, butterball!"

"Ooh, that's a good one." Tracy noted. "I'll have to make Macy write that one down later."

"C'mon Kon! He's almost to Jackie!" Laney persuaded.

"I can't…get up…" Kon groaned. "Don't…have…energy…"

Meanwhile, Jackie and Corey were standing side-by-side, next to Gerald.

"Jacks, listen." Corey began. "I know you're still angry for some reason and probably don't wanna forgive us for whatever we did, but I can lose the race on purpose if it'll make you feel better."

"Ha! Why? You don't care about me! You guys never cared about me! Bribe me all you want, Corey Riffin, but the damage has already been done! You and the others will pay for leaving me off the team on purpose!"

"We did what?"

Laney saw Joey running to where Jackie was and panicked.

"We have to do something!" she told Kin.

Then Kin got an idea. "Uh…hey Kon! If you run really, really fast, then we promise to get you…uh…a double order of cheesy fries from Belchie's!"

"…Fries?!" Kon immediately sat up and sped to where Joey was.

"Hey!" Joey cried. "You're not supposed to win! Out of the way!"

Kon didn't listen though, and he managed to hand off his flag before Joey and Morris could get past him. This allowed Corey to get ahead.

"Ooh, this race is getting intense folks!" Mayor Swellow commented. "Elementary High has taken the lead! But the other two teams are right on their tail!"

Joey and Morris handed off their flags and Jackie and Gerald sprinted to catch up to Corey.

"So, who do you think's gonna win?" Rick asked Tracy.

"Oh definitely Lincoln Prep!" Tracy responded. "No way can Grojband rise above them! Or anyone for that matter!"

"Wow. Sounds like you really believe in your sister."

"Uh…yeah! Of course I do…because that's what family…" Tracy gagged. "…is for…"

Corey looked behind him and saw Jackie gaining on him. He did his best to ignore her and kept running. Jackie's eyes sparked with determination as she ran beside Corey. Then suddenly, just as she was about to pass him and take first place, she tripped over a pebble and landed on her ankle.

"Ow!" she clutched her foot and ground her teeth in discomfort. She tried to get up and keep going, but her hurt ankle forbid her from doing so. Corey screeched to a halt and looked back.

"Jacks!"

"Get up, Matthews!" Joey encouraged harshly. "You're gonna make us lose!"

"What's this? Lincoln Prep's player has fallen behind!" the mayor wailed. "It seems as though their winning streak is over! Elementary High is almost to the finish line!"

"We love you, Corey Riffin!" Kelsey and Alyssa cheered from the crowd. Sure enough, the rest of Grojband's fans were cheering too.

"Grojband! Grojband! Grojband! Grojband!" they chanted.

Corey turned around and saw he was only a few yards away from the finish line. Then he looked back at Jackie who looked like she was in terrible pain, and also noticed Gerald catching up to him. The guitarist continued to glance back and forth at his two options. He heard the crowd chant his band's name over and over again and he knew they would chant even louder if he crossed the finish line. But then he realized that there was something more important than being the center of attention. So he made a quick turnaround and ran in the opposite direction. This was enough to shock the fans watching, including Mayor Swellow.

"What?! What is that boy doing? He's going the wrong way! I was so close to getting that trophy!" he sobbed into the microphone. "Oops…uh, is this thing still on?"

Corey made it over to Jackie and kneeled down to help her up.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned.

"Ow…my ankle hurts…"

"Matthews! Get moving!" Joey shouted.

But it was too late, because shortly after, Gerald had crossed the finish line. The other members of Grojband hung their heads in disappointment. So did the audience. But the most ashamed of them all was Mayor Swellow.

"Oh…well uh…heh…looks like we have our winners ladies and gentlemen. It's Weezer Middle School…Woo-hoo…yeah…let's hear it for…oh who am I kidding? I failed you, mother! I picked a bad team to represent our school!" the politician covered his face as he cried.

"Yes! They lost!" Tracy celebrated, but then remembered she was with Rick and quickly changed her tone. "Uh, I mean, oh darn! We lost! And it was so close too! Oh well! At least we lost together, right Rick?"

It was then that Tracy noticed Rick was holding a pennant for Weezer Middle School in his left hand.

"Rick?! But-but when did you start rooting for-"

"Sorry Tracy Matthews, but Rick Salary can't be seen with someone who's against the winning team. Later."

"Rick, no!" Tracy called as Rick got up and left. "Come back! Who's gonna share all the popcorn I made Macy get with me?!"

Macy just groaned.

The other kids from Weezer Middle School ran up to Gerald and tossed him in the air.

"We're not losers!" Gerald cried with glee. "My mom's finally going to be proud of me!"

Corey, meanwhile, was checking out Jackie's ankle. He touched it lightly, which made Jackie yelp. Then Lincoln Prep came up to the two of them.

"Nice going, Matthews." Joey said. "You blew it for all of us. We're never letting you on our team again. C'mon guys. Let's go sell our empty trophy case…"

Just as the high schoolers made their exit, Laney and the twins joined the band leaders.

"Jacks, what happened? Are you hurt?" Laney was concerned.

"Poor baby!" Kin worried. "You must be in so much pain!"

"I'll be ow! Fine…" Jackie insisted. "I'm just upset that I failed my team…again…"

"C'mon, let's get you home." Corey decided.

"I-I don't think I can walk…"

"Fear not, m'lady." Kin boasted. "I shall carry you back to our fortress."

The short, nerdy scientist attempted to lift his crush off the ground, but his arms gave out and he wheezed.

"Uh, you know what? Even better! I'll make Kon do it!" Kin snapped his fingers. "Get to it, flunky!"

"As you wish, your royal Dorkiness. Kon rolled his eyes. "You still owe me those cheesy fries, by the way."

He then scooped Jackie into his arms and they all headed home.

**WICKED COOL TRANSITION!**

Once they were back at the garage, Grojband laid Jackie down on the couch and elevated her foot. Kin fluffed up her pillow.

"There. Better?"

Jackie shrugged. "I guess."

Kon placed an ice pack on Jackie's ankle, which caused her to shiver.

"Hey! Watch it! That's cold!"

"Kon!" Kin scolded.

"I'm just trying to help…" Kon mumbled.

"Oh…is there anything we can do for you, Jackie?"

"Actually yes. I wanted to ask you guys a question."

"Sure gal pal, anything." Laney nodded.

"…Why are you being so nice to me?"

"What do you mean? Aren't we always nice to you?" Corey questioned.

"I guess, but…I wasn't very nice to you…and what I don't understand is…even after all of the mean stuff I did to you guys, you were still worried after I got hurt. And Corey? You could have won! You had the chance to impress all your fans and increase Grojband's publicity. But you gave all of that up just to help me."

"Well, sure I did. Helping friends is way more important than winning some dumb race! And even if you were kinda rude to us, I couldn't just leave you behind."

"By the way, why were you being rude to us in the first place?" Laney inquired.

Jackie hung her head. "Well…the truth is…I was mad because you guys left me off your team…I thought you didn't want me because I would mess everything up like I did today…I thought you didn't care about me…"

"How could you think that?" Kin put his hand on Jackie's shoulder. "We do care about you! A lot!"

"Besides, we told you you couldn't join the team because we were only allowed four players!" Corey explained. "What made you think we were leaving you out on purpose?"

"Well…Tracy told me."

"And you believed her?" Laney cried in disbelief.

"Oh…yeah I guess that wasn't the smartest move…" Jackie sighed. "I'm sorry…for everything, really…it was wrong of me to jump to conclusions like that…I shouldn't have listened to Tracy."

"Well, we're not any less to blame, Jacks." Corey sighed too. "We never should have played in the games if it meant you couldn't play with us. After all, you're just as crucial to the band as any of us. Whether you play an instrument or not." he poked Jackie on the nose, which made her giggle. "That's why from now on, Grojband will only do something if all _five_ of us get to do it together! Otherwise, we won't do it at all!"

Jackie grinned. "Thanks guys. And I promise to never doubt my friends again! Oh, and I also promise never to listen to what Tracy says anymore! Deal?"

"Deal!" Grojband said in unison and then they all gave their manager a warm hug.

"Ow!" Jackie shrieked as Kon accidentally pressed down on her ankle.

"Oops! Sorry! My bad!"

Kin facepalmed. "C'mon guys. We'd better let Jackie rest. I think she's had enough excitement for one day."

The door to the garage opened and a very angry Tracy stepped in.

"There you are!" she pointed at Jackie. "I hope you're satisfied with yourself, you little runt! Thanks to you, Rick doesn't want to be seen with me! He says he doesn't associate himself with people who support losers like you! None of this would have happened if you had just won that stupid race! But no! You had to screw things up like you always do! You make me sick!"

And with that said, Tracy slammed an empty popcorn bucket on Jackie's head and stormed away. But the next thing the short-tempered teenager knew, the bucket flew right at her and hit her in the back of her head. And it turns out Jackie had thrown it at her.

"Yes! 50 feet! I think I deserve a gold medal for that!" she joked and the others laughed.

"Thanks for coming out everyone!" Corey closed the garage door.

* * *

**27 original scenarios left! 12 slots available!  
**

**Well, summer is finally over, which means I'm back in school again. I'll try not to keep myself from writing this story, but if for any reason I don't upload again for another month, you'll know why. As always, see you next time!**


	70. Scout's Dishonor

**Wow. It's been two whole months since my last upload. I did not expect there to be such a large gap between chapters. For those of you who are still reading, I sincerely apologize for the very late update. Anyway, this is based on a scenario from StarHeart Specials:**

**"Hey there! I'd like to send an episode request for Meeting Grojband. It's based on an episode of Chowder, "The Apprentice Scouts," where Jackie and Grojband go to a scout meeting and the scout leader takes them on a crazy outing so he doesn't get fired. If you want more info, I suggest you watch the episode. It's available on Netflix if you want. Thank you for your time."**

**So first of all, let me give my opinion on the show, Chowder. I did watch the show quite a bit when I was younger, at least whenever there was nothing else on TV worth watching. The first few episodes were kind of charming, but then the show got weird. Many episodes of Chowder, including this one, tend to have a random plot that moves in many different directions. Most of the time, random things happen for no apparent reason and there is very little logic to the show in general. Sometimes it gets to the point where characters who are used mainly for jokes (such as the 'magic' fish in this particular episode) become a major part of the episode. Also, some of the characters can get annoying and incredibly stupid. So while I don't hate this show, I do think that it's writing was it's biggest flaw. That being said, I tried to remove as much randomness from the episode as possible. Still, if this chapter seems a little rushed, blame the episode. Anyways, enjoy!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Chowder or the episode parodied.**

* * *

**Chapter 70**

**Scout's Dishonor**

Our story begins in a top secret location. A location far different from the garage our stories usually start in. A location that has not been seen, heard of, or talked about until today. A place so secret that telling you would be unlawful…

Okay, to tell the truth, it's not that secret. The place I'm referring to is a clubhouse in Jackie's backyard. But even if this clubhouse wasn't all that secret, it was still very special. That's because it was the clubhouse made especially for the Ferret Scouts, Tranquil Town's newest troop. And Jackie just so happened to be one of the members, mainly because her dad was one of the troop leaders. Of course, she wouldn't join unless Grojband could be scouts too, and while Mr. Matthews was reluctant to let them in, he did so anyway to make his daughter happy.

This particular day was the scouts' fifth meeting. Jackie, Grojband, and a few other kids were waiting for Mr. Matthews to arrive. Jackie adjusted her badge sash before speaking to her friends.

"I hope Dad gets here soon. He said today's meeting is going to be really important."

Corey scoffed. "Yeah, yeah. He says that about every meeting. What else is new?"

"He sounded serious this time. He said that there was a badge situation. Like a problem with handing them out."

"What are you talking about?" Kon questioned. "Your dad doesn't have a problem with giving us badges. He's given out lots of them to everyone!"

"Everyone except me." Kin grumbled. "He's been stingy about giving me a badge ever since I joined the Ferret Scouts. What gives?"

"Maybe you haven't been trying hard enough." Laney suggested.

"Are you kidding? I haven't just been trying! I've pretty much done everything perfectly and he still won't give me a badge! And it's obviously because he doesn't like me…"

"C'mon dude, that's not true." Corey wrapped his arm around his fellow band member.

"Oh it's not, is it? Don't you remember when we tried for the 'Realistic Painting' badge?"

The others remembered when all of the scouts got together to create a realistic-style painting. Everyone had struggled to make something, except for Kin who had managed to recreate the Mona Lisa on his canvas. However, Mr. Matthews ignored it and gave out badges to everyone else, including Kon who had just squirted paint on his face by accident.

Corey just shrugged. "Meh. He probably just has specific tastes."

"Oh yeah? Well what about the day of the 'Knot-Tying' badge?"

On that day, the kids were each given their own rope and asked to tie a knot with it. Kin not only tied a perfect knot, but he also made a design of Jackie's face. But Mr. Matthews still ignored him and gave badges to everyone else, including Kon who had accidentally broke his rope in half.

"You did go a little overboard with that Jackie design." Laney told him.

"And then there was the 'Multivariable Calculus' badge."

Kin recalled last week where all of the scouts were given a calculus test to earn a badge. And Kin, being the genius he is, answered every single question with ease and got every single one right. In fact, he was the only one to get any of the questions right. But just like before, Mr. Matthews gave out badges to everyone except Kin, including Kon who hadn't even touched the exam and instead had tried to balance a pencil on his nose the whole time.

Kon looked down at his sash and smiled with pride. "Gosh, Jackie's dad sure knows how to make a guy feel special!"

Corey scratched his head. "Hm, when you put it that way, maybe he doesn't like you."

"But why?" Kin moped. "What did I ever do to him?"

"Well, for one thing you're crushing on his daughter." Laney pointed out.

"Crushing on whose daughter?" Jackie chimed in.

Kin turned deep red and stammered.

"Oh hi Jackie! We were just talking about how your dad doesn't like me and we think it's because I'm in love with his…friend's daughter!"

"…I didn't think any of my dad's friends had daughters…"

"Sure! Uh, her name is uh…Francine! She's really smart, and really, really pretty, and…she likes a lot of the stuff I like…"

"Wow Kin, that's really cool! I'm glad you're finally taking a liking to someone!" Jackie gave Kin a friendly noogie which made him blush like crazy.

"Oh my gosh!" he said to Laney. "She touched my hair! I'm so never washing it again!"

"That's gross." Laney commented.

"Indeed."

All the teens in the room turned to the front door and saw Jackie's dad wearing a Ferret Scouts' uniform and dark sunglasses.

"Uh, hello Mr. Matthews, er I mean Scoutmaster Matthews, sir!" Kin saluted.

Mr. Matthews removed his sunglasses and peered down at the short nerdy boy. He then took out a bottle of shampoo and squirted it in Kin's hair. The keyboardist sputtered as a bit of the shampoo landed in his mouth.

"That takes care of that! You're not going to turn anything belonging to my little girl into a souvenir as long as I'm around, Kujira! Not even her fingerprints…"  
Kin gulped. "Y-Y-Yes sir…"

"…Now drop and give me 40!"

Kin shrieked and immediately started doing push-ups. Mr. Matthews went over to Jackie and she hugged him.

"Hi Dad!"

"Aww, hi there pumpkin." he cleared his throat. "Ferret Scouts! Line up!"

The scouts obeyed and formed a single file line.

"So, as you all know, I called you here because I have a question to ask all of you…" Mr. Matthews removed his sunglasses dramatically. "…You guys like me as your leader right?"

Sounds of agreement were heard from the scouts.

"Of course we do, Dad!" Jackie hugged her father's arm. "You're the greatest leader the Ferret Scouts have ever had!"

"Oh yeah…" Kin mumbled as he stood up. "He's great…great at being a giant pain…"

"Who told you to stop doing push-ups?!" Mr. Matthews shouted in Kin's face.

"Eek!" Kin got back down.

Mr. Matthews turned back to the others. "Well I'm glad you kids like me. Cause the other grown-ups haven't been as 'cool' as you guys have been."

"I can't imagine why…" Kin panted as he did one last push-up and collapsed.

"What's going on, Dad?" Jackie asked.

"Well you see sweetheart, the other scout leaders think I've been too easy on you and your friends. That I've been a little loose with handing out badges."

Kon scoffed. "That's silly! You haven't been loose at all, Mr. Matthews! Look at Kin! You haven't given him any badges!"

Kin glared at his younger twin as he sat up.

"Thank you, drummer." Mr. Matthews tossed Kon a badge. "Here, take this."

"Awesome! I'm good at swimming now!"

"Aw, c'mon!" Kin faceplanted into the ground.

Laney raised her hand. "So, what does this mean, Mr. Matthews?"

"Well bassist, it means that if things don't change, I'll get fired! And I don't wanna get fired!" the middle-aged man burst into tears. "This gig's the only extra-curricular thing I have going for my resume right now!"

Jackie patted her dad's back. "Dad? Do you need to-"

"No, no, no! That's okay! Just gotta calm myself…" Mr. Matthews inhaled and exhaled. "Find your center Paul…relax…"

Once he calmed down, he continued.

"No grown-up is gonna tell me I'm a bad scout leader! So today, everyone's gonna earn their badge for real!"

Kin perked up. "Everyone? Even me?"

"I'll think about it…" Mr. Matthews lowered his sunglasses and gave Kin a dirty look.

"So what badge are we gonna earn, Dad?" Jackie questioned.

"Yeah! Is it the 'Play a Super Loud Chord On a Snowy Mountain' badge?" Corey exclaimed.

"Well, I'd like to earn the 'Let's Not Get Ourselves Killed' badge." Laney spoke up.

"Both of those are good, but no. Today, we shall earn the coveted…'Paper Napkin Folding' badge!"

"Ooh…" the scouts went as Mr. Matthews showed them the badge.

"So shiny…" Kon's eyes twinkled.

"Seriously?" Corey chuckled. "Folding paper napkins? I can do that in my sleep!"

Mr. Matthews got in Corey's face. "Oh, so you think it's gonna be easy, do ya?"

"Uh, maybe?"

"Well…THINK AGAIN! Easy gets me fired! So we're turning up the heat! Today's challenge isn't gonna be some namby-pamby cake walk! You hear me? NO CAKE WALK!"

"Aw…I really wanted cake…" Kon whined.

"Okay scouts! Let's move on out!"

**WALKING CAKE TRANSITION!**

The scouts followed Jackie's dad through Tranquil Forest carrying backpacks full of supplies Mr. Matthews insisted they would need. After a bit of treading, they reached a small mountain and Mr. Matthews stopped walking.

"Halt!" he ordered which caused the scouts to bump into each other one by one.

"What are you scouts doing on the ground? Get up and grab your gear!"

Jackie rubbed her head. "Sure Dad, but why do we need harpoons?"

"Well how else are we going to climb the mountain? Now when I say 'go', you kids throw your harpoons at that mountain and get climbing! Ready…go!"

The scouts all threw their harpoons simultaneously but none of them stuck to the mountainside.

"What kind of a throw was that?!" Mr. Matthews scolded.

"I didn't think it was too bad." Kon pointed to where his harpoon landed. "Look! I came in fifth!"

"No time for this! You kids gotta earn that badge!" Mr. Matthews started lifting up the scouts one by one and throwing them onto the mountain. Most of them managed to make it, and by most I mean Jackie and Grojband.

"Last one!" Mr. Matthews threw the last kid but he landed face-first into the ground. "Sorry! I won't come back for you later! Scout's honor!"

"Napkin folding sure is exciting!" Kon cried.

"Of course it is. It's one of the cornerstones of throwing a good dinner party." Kin explained.

"That and a good music mix!" Corey added.

"Um, guys?" Laney interrupted. "What exactly does this have to do with napkins?"

"It has everything to do with napkins!" Mr. Matthews caught up with his daughter and her friends. "This is about perseverance! Endurance! Courage!"

"Napkin folding requires courage?" Corey inquired.

"It does now! Everyone climb!"

As weird as it sounded, the gang started climbing. Kin scooted up to Jackie.

"Gee Jackie, climbing up this high must be really scary for you. If you get nervous, you can always hold my hand." he giggled.

"No thanks Kin. I'm good." Jackie climbed ahead.

Kin looked down and gasped when he saw Mr. Matthews right below him, giving him a death stare.

"Gah! Uh, I was just offering to…carry her up! You know, in case she got too tired to keep going! Heh, heh, heh! Cause you know, I'd do it for anyone! Heh…"

"Oh, really? Well then, why don't you carry your lazy brother? He's holding us back!"

Kon was still at the bottom of the mountain, struggling to make it off the ground.

"Oh…" Kin whined and climbed back down to help out his twin.

A little while later, the group reached the mountain's peak. Everyone was panting and sweating, except for Kon who was happily sitting on Kin's back. Kin wheezed as Kon stepped off of him.

"Thanks for the ride, bro! It's funny, usually when I'm up in really, really high places, I tend to get altitude sickness. But now, for some reason, I feel-" the drummer turned green and threw up in Kin's backpack. "Whoops…uh, you weren't gonna eat those sandwiches, were you?"

Kin just covered his face and groaned.

"Good job, scouts!" Mr. Matthews breathed heavily. "That was a tough climb!"

Jackie looked around. "Um, Dad? I think we lost a few people."

Mr. Matthews shrugged. "Well obviously, they didn't want their badges badly enough."

"Does that mean we get our badge now?" Laney asked, holding up a napkin.

"You tryin' to get me fired?" Mr. Matthews threatened.

"No."

"Then put that napkin away! If I let you fold that napkin now, I'd be proving the other scoutmasters right! And worse, I'd be letting you let yourselves down! And when you let someone let themselves down, you're only letting yourself down! And I will not let myself down! Understand?"

Kon ran over to the side of the mountain and threw up again.

"Ugh! Thanks a lot, drummer! You're making my life so much easier right now!"

"Psst! Jacks!" Corey whispered to his manager. "I think something's wrong with your dad. He's all worked up and sweaty!"

"There's no time for barfing!" Mr. Matthews berated a sick Kon. "You got a badge to earn! What do you think? You're just gonna sit out in the bushes and barf all day?! You think you'll get a badge for that?! Huh?! Fat chance, pal! Fat chance!"

"Aw, he's always worked up and sweaty." Jackie reassured the beanie-wearing boy.

"Yeah, but he's never this worked up and sweaty. If I didn't know any better, I'd say your dad had…" Corey gulped. "…rabies…"

"Rabies?" Laney chuckled. "C'mon Core, if Jackie's dad had rabies, he'd be foaming at the mouth."

"That's because foaming at the mouth is in Stage 2 of rabies, Lanes! It's like you didn't even read the scout handbook!"

"Core, I really don't think-" Jackie tried to say but Corey shushed her.

"Your dad could bite and infect anyone any minute!"

"Core, you're overreacting." Laney insisted.

"C'mon drummer!" Mr. Matthews continued to shout at Kon. "Am I gonna have to bite you to get you in gear?"

"I'm not willing to take any chances with our lives, Lanes!" Corey grabbed Laney by the face.

"…_Wow…he's so…valiant…_" she thought.

"Hey! Quit fooling around, lovebirds!" Mr. Matthews commanded.

Corey screamed and ran off. "Don't bite me!"

Mr. Matthews was oblivious as to what was going on, however.

"Now that is the kind of hustle I like to see!" he pulled out a hang glider. "Okay scouts! Everybody grab on to this hang glider and get ready to jump! But uh, you'd better hurry. I think I heard wolves."

Corey was hiding behind a rock.

"Oh no! I gotta save everyone before they get infected!"

The singer zoomed out of his hiding place and swiped the hang glider from Mr. Matthews. The wind picked him up off the mountain and he flew through the air.

"Guys! Hop on!" he scooped up the other kids and flew off.

"Hey! Guitar player! You can't leave without your scout leader!" Mr. Matthews shouted from below. "On a side note, however, I couldn't be more proud of your gusto! You're totally earning that badge!"

He then took out another hang glider from his backpack, jumped off the mountain and chased after our heroes.

Corey looked behind him. "Gah! He's giving chase! He's determined to give all of us rabies!"

"What are you talking about, dude?" Kin asked.

"Not now, man! We gotta escape!"

"Kids! As your scoutmaster, I order you all to-"

Then suddenly, a goose hit Jackie's dad in the face, spreading feathers everywhere. Laney turned around and gasped when she noticed feathers in his mouth.

Mr. Matthews sputtered. "Stupid birds! Why do you always have to migrate during the windy season?!"

"Core! You were right!" Laney informed her crush. "He's foaming at the mouth! Mr. Matthews does have rabies!"

"Your dad has rabies?!" Kin cried to Jackie.

"Yeah! And if we don't escape, he'll give it to all of us!" Corey clarified. "Like a bad present with no gift receipt. Hang on! I'm gonna try to shake him!"

The leader repeatedly moved the hang glider up and down, but no matter what, Mr. Matthews managed to stay on their trail.

"It's not working!" Corey panicked.

"I'm not surprised. You call that shaking him?" Laney criticized.

"Guys, I don't know if this is such a good idea." Jackie spoke up. "I mean, I know my dad is annoying sometimes, but I think he needs our help right now. Instead of running away from him, maybe we should get him to a doctor."

Mr. Matthews spit out one last feather and it landed on Jackie's hand. She screamed.

"On second thought, keep shaking him Corey!"

Corey did so and Kon, meanwhile was sitting on top of the hang glider looking sick.

"Guys? I don't feel so good…"

Just then, the glider started to rip from Kon's weight.

"The hang glider's breaking up!" Jackie shrieked. "We're gonna-"

The five teens screamed as the hang glider came apart and they plummeted back down to earth. Luckily, they landed in a river and none of them were hurt. They all climbed out of the water coughing and sputtering.

"Phew!" Corey panted. "Looks like we all made it!"

Kon turned green again and threw up into the river.

"Yeah…now let's never do that again…" he begged.

"So what do we do now?" Laney shook some water out of her ears. "We're stuck out here in the woods with no way of getting back home!"

"Relax bro!" Corey took out his backpack. "Scout training has prepared us for situations like surviving out in the wilderness! We'll be fine as long we use our limited resources wisely!"

Jackie shivered from being wet. "Do our limited resources include a towel? I'm freezing!"

Suddenly, she felt two warm arms wrap around her waist. She looked down to see Kin leaning against her with a huge smile on his face.

"Lucky for you, your dad isn't here to keep me from doing this…" he sighed. "And lucky for me too…"

Then out of nowhere, a pair of binoculars hit Kin on the head.

"Ouch!"

"I see you down there, keyboard player!" Mr. Matthews called from above. "Step away from my precious angel or else there's more where those binoculars came from!"

"Oh no! He found us!" Corey shrieked. "Quick! Hide!"

The kids scuttled behind a tree and out of Jackie's dad's sightline.

"This stinks." Laney noted. "If only we had a river raft to escape with."

"Hey! I have an idea!" Kon brightened. "Why don't we catch a magic fish and ask it to make us a river raft with its mystical powers? Ooh! And maybe if we're lucky he'll make us a banana cannon too!"

"What's a banana cannon good for?" Laney wondered.

"…Shooting bananas?"

Laney turned to Kin. "How is he related to you?"

"We don't need any magic fish!" Jackie hugged Kin. "We've already got a genius who can build a river raft for us! Right Kin?"

Kin squealed. "Oh Jackie! You're too kind! I couldn't…I really couldn't…"

"You'd better!" Laney threatened. "Or else we'll all get infected with rabies!"

"Okay, okay! I'll do it! But first, I'll need rubber, a ton of wood, and some kind of an air pump!"

"If I get some bananas, will you make a banana cannon too?" Kon requested.

Kin sighed. "Fine…"

"Yay!"

**BANANAS MAKE GOOD WEAPONS!**

"Okay! It's ready!" Kin called the gang over once he finished the raft.

"So how does it work, Kin?" Jackie sat down in the boat.

"Oh, it's pretty self-explanatory." Kin handed Jackie a pair of hand-carved oars. "All you have to do is move these oars through the water, and the raft should move all on its own."

"Yeah! And if your dad comes by, we can shoot him down with bananas!" Kon giggled while holding the banana cannon.

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Jackie shrugged.

"Kids! Wait up!"

The five looked up to see Mr. Matthews flying down towards them.

"He's coming!" Corey yelled. "Quick! Paddle!"

Jackie did so, and they all started rolling down the stream.

"Kon! Fire the cannon!" the singer ordered.

"Don't have to ask me twice!" Kon stood up and started shooting bananas at Mr. Matthews. He caught one of them in his hand and started eating it.

"Hey, thanks drummer! I totally forgot to bring trail mix!"

"The banana cannon has no effect!" Kon cried.

"Curse you rabies!" Corey shook his fist. "You've made him invulnerable!"

"Core! Look!" Kin pointed ahead. "The river splits! Which way should we go?"

The leader peered ahead. "Hm, well one path leads to a bunch of small waterfalls which consequently may lead to one big waterfall and the other has a bunch of smiling sparkly-eyed bunnies."

"Aww!" Jackie cooed. "They're so adorable!"

"I know! Bunnies are my weakness!" Laney agreed.

"Mine too!"

The girls clasped their hands together. "EEEE!"

"Those little guys are cute all right." Corey glared. "A little too cute if you ask me. We're going the other way!"

"What? But why?" Jackie said.

"Anything that adorable can't be trusted. Move!" he snatched the oars from Jackie and led the raft down the waterfalls.

One of the bunnies took out a spiked club.

"Darn! We almost had em!"

The kids screamed as they rushed down the mini-waterfalls. As they tried to regain control, the raft kept swaying and sliding into several obstacles. Pretty soon, it was filled with holes and the air started coming out.

"Oh no! We're gonna sink!" Jackie observed. "Quick! Get the napkins!"

Everyone pulled out their paper napkins and started tying them around the holes.

"Over!"

"Under!"

"DONE!" they all shouted.

"Wow, Dad was right! Napkin folding does require courage!" Jackie exclaimed.

"I just hope we have enough courage to handle that!" Laney pointed toward the end of the river where a huge waterfall was waiting on the other side.

Everyone screamed as the current pulled them closer and closer to their doom. Luckily, Kin took out a rope and lassoed it on to a rock.

"Everybody grab on!" he commanded and the rest obeyed. Each one of them scooted themselves across the rope carefully and made it out of the boat safely.

"Hurry Jacks!" Laney called to Jackie.

Jackie reached for the rope and tried to grab it, but it was too late for she and the boat reached the river's edge and they both fell down the waterfall. The others could hear her terrified screams.

"Jackie!" Kin wailed as he and the rest of the band looked over the side. The boat had fallen to the bottom, but Jackie was hanging onto a nearby tree branch.

"I'm okay!" she called.

But unfortunately, the branch was incredibly weak and started to break off. Grojband gasped and Jackie began to hyperventilate.

"Help! Somebody help me!" she begged.

"I'm coming Jackie!" Kin picked up his rope just as the branch snapped and Jackie fell. With all of his strength and bravery, the nerdy boy threw the rope over the edge of the waterfall.

"Jackie! Grab on!"

Jackie heard him and briskly caught the rope just in time. The other band members held onto Kin in order to help him pull Jackie up to safety. Jackie grasped the rope tightly and shut her eyes, praying that it would be over soon. After a bit of tugging, the group successfully rescued their manager. Jackie hugged Kin tightly and breathed rapidly.

"That was really scary…thanks a lot Kin…"

Kin blushed and hugged back. "Yeah, no problem. What are friends for?"

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything…" a voice said.

Kin panicked when he noticed Mr. Matthews behind the group. He let go of Jackie.

"It's not what it looks like! I-I-mean it is but…she hugged me first! Please don't make me do push-ups again!"

Mr. Matthews made a gesture with his finger. "C'mere. All of you. I want to give you something."

Corey shielded the others. "No way! You're not touching any of my pals! If you wanna infect them with your disgusting disease, you'll have to go through me first!"

"My disgusting what? What's he talking about?" Mr. Matthews made a confused face prompting everyone to give Corey a dirty look.

"Oh just another one of his crazy assumptions that turned out to be wrong. Again." Laney said.

Mr. Matthews shook his head. "Well, I don't know what that's all about, but I do know that what I'm about to give you is something that you kids truly deserve."

With that said, the scout leader showed Jackie and the band a handful of Paper Napkin Folding badges.

"Whoa…" everyone went.

"When I was looking for a place to land, I saw you kids out in the boat and how you used your napkin folding skills to save yourselves. You clearly went above and beyond to get this badge. So line up scouts! You've earned this."

The five lined up and Mr. Matthews started pinning the badges on their sashes.

"Well first off, I wanna congratulate my special little girl." he gave Jackie a badge. "I'm really proud of you, sweetie."

"Thanks Dad." Jackie grinned.

"And now for the rest of you." he went down the line. "We have a badge for lead singer…a badge for bassist…a badge for drummer…and…"

Kin stuck out his chest proudly.

"…that's it."

Kin frowned and hung his head in disappointment.

"Okay kids. Let's head home." Mr. Matthews announced. "I think we've all had enough excitement for one day."

But while Corey, Laney, and Kon admired their new badges, Jackie couldn't help but notice how sad Kin looked. The poor keyboardist had tears streaming down his cheek and onto his empty sash. She felt a wave of sympathy for her friend.

"Hey Dad?" she stepped forward. "Um, aren't you forgetting somebody?"

"Uh, not that I know of cupcake. Why?"

"Well it's just…if you were truly watching us the whole time, wouldn't you have seen me almost fall off a waterfall?"

"Well of course I saw that, sweetheart! In fact, when I did, I almost had a heart attack! I thought I was going to lose you! I was relieved when your friends saved you."

"Actually, it was mostly one of my friends that saved me." she tilted her head towards a crying Kin.

"No…you couldn't mean-"

"Dad, Kin didn't just earn that badge. He saved my life! If it wasn't for him, I'd be at the bottom of the waterfall!"

"But…but-but I…but he-"

"Honestly, you've been hard on him ever since you became a scout leader! Even before that actually! After what he just did today, he deserves something!"

Kin heard their conversation and perked up at his crush sticking up for him.

"Aww…but honey, he's worthless!"

Kin frowned again.

"Dad!" Jackie scolded.

Mr. Matthews sighed. "Oh…all right. But I don't have any more napkin-folding badges!"

"Well give him something else then!"

"Ugh…fine…" he cleared his throat. "Keyboard player! Front and center!"

Kin came up to them. "I know, I know." he got on the ground. "How many do you want?"

Mr. Matthews facepalmed. "Get up Kujira. I'm not making you do push-ups this time. I called you here because…well…"

Jackie raised an eyebrow at her stubborn father in order to signal him to keep going.

"…you're probably the hardest working scout in this troop…and…"

Jackie signaled him again.

"…you've put in more effort than anyone else and well…you did save Jackie's life and all and…"

Another signal.

"I realize now I've been kinda harsh on you…so while I don't really like doing this…I'm going to give you a reward that's been long overdue…"

Kin watched as Mr. Matthews reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge.

"Keyboard player…for rescuing my daughter…I bestow upon you…the Lifesaver badge…"

Kin gasped with excitement. "Really?"

Mr. Matthews swallowed with pain. "Really."

"Sir…I-I don't know what to say!"

"Don't say anything. Just hurry up and take it already." Mr. Matthews gave Kin the badge and walked away. "I need to go find a place to puke…"

Kin held the badge in his hand and gazed over it with a huge smile on his face.

"Don't mind him." Jackie insisted. "He's just upset because he knows you're the best scout ever."

"Oh I don't care about being the best! I'm just happy that I finally got my first badge!" Kin cried tears of joy. "I feel so accomplished!"

"And you should be. You earned it."

"Yeah, I totally did, didn't I?" Kin boasted. "But if we're being honest here, I wouldn't have earned it at all if it wasn't for you. Thanks Jackie."

"What are friends for?"

And then the two best friends shared a tender hug. That is until…

**SPLAT!**

A banana splattered all over both of them.

"Kon!" they yelled simultaneously.

"There was one left!" Kon protested.

**BANANA SPLIT TRANSITION!**

A week later, the Ferret Scouts had another meeting.

"So apparently there's been a few complaints from the adults that some of you didn't enjoy last week's outing." Mr. Matthews announced. "That is a shame. You showed good effort."

"Effort? You left most of us behind!" a kid spoke up.

"Quiet Nicholson!" Mr. Matthews ordered. "You know you could have done better! Anyway, this week we're going to take it nice and easy. Get ready to earn the 'Sit Still and Breath Deeply' badge!"

The kids all groaned.

"Hey, wanna go back to music?" Jackie whispered to Grojband.

"You read my mind." Corey answered as they all got up and left without Mr. Matthews noticing.

"Okay! Everybody grab a radiation suit and a rocket pack!" he looked around. "Kids? Kids? Where'd you go? Okay, hide-and-seek is next week kids!"

* * *

**26 original scenarios left! 10 slots available!**

**So after this two month hiatus, I think that I can definitely say that deadlines for new chapters are no longer an option. As much as I would like to update the story every so often, I've learned with how much I have to do nowadays, that's not going to happen. So from now on, I'm going to need to work at my own pace. I'll upload new chapters whatever day I finish them even if it's two months since the last one. No, this does not mean I'm going to update only once a year or something like that. What it does mean however, is that there is not going to be a clear pattern on when I upload new stories. For example, if I post something new a week after this chapter, the next update may be two weeks away. I will try not to keep you guys waiting for more than two months but there are no guarantees. In the meantime, thank you all for being patient with me. I know waiting for something you enjoy isn't always easy.**

**Also, before anyone asks, I will not be doing any more holiday-themed chapters (with the exception of Grojband episodes), mainly for two reasons. One: I feel like I have done well enough with the chapters already written for certain holidays and any scenarios given to me may be similar to the ones I've already done and two: writing these holiday chapters takes time and it may take away time I should be spending with my family. Oh yeah, and also because I have too many requests already and more holiday chapters is just going to delay other peoples' requests. If you really want a Christmas chapter, then just re-read Chapter 62 and if you're in the mood for a Halloween chapter, you can re-read the many spooky-themed chapters I've written already (i.e. 19, 48, 53-55, 58).**

**Well that is all I have to say for now. But remember, even though chapters will take me a while to write, I still wish to see at least three reviews before I post something new. Even if I have a chapter done, I want evidence that people are still reading and want more. Otherwise, I'll think that no one wants anything. Okay, that's all. Bye!**


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